


A Wrinkle in Time

by Jcapasso916



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-05 21:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 30,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5390939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jcapasso916/pseuds/Jcapasso916
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel has one last message on the DVD for Sam's eyes only. A chance to undo everything before it happens. But how much will Sam lose along the way?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is set just around the time of Swan Song.

Sam was going to say yes to Lucifer tomorrow and jump in the cage and he was beyond nervous. He was completely terrified, not that he could let it show. His brother was already itching to stop him. All he needed was an excuse; some sign that Sam wasn’t up for the task, but he would do this. He had to do this. Everything that happened was his fault. He released Lucifer in the first place and he had to be the one to put him back. Not to mention that this was the only way to carry out Gabriel’s last plan. The archangel who wanted nothing to do with any of this; who just wanted his family to stop fighting; who only got involved to protect them; and who died for it. If carrying out his plan was the only way to honor his memory than that is what Sam would do. 

Sam pulled out the DVD that Gabriel had left them. He had never been able to watch it again after getting the message, but if tomorrow was the end for him, he didn’t want to leave anything unfinished, even a ridiculous porn dvd starring a wayward archangel. He popped it in his computer and pressed play. He forced himself to keep watching after the message ended, even as clothes began to be shed. It would be just like Gabriel to leave an extra message well past the part that anyone actually wanted to see. Sam raised an eyebrow as Gabriel’s shirt came off. The loose-fitting clothes that the archangel preferred were apparently hiding a pretty tone body. He wasn’t exactly muscular like Sam, but he was plenty fit. Once pants started coming off he closed his eyes. He just didn’t feel right watching that, but he was still listening for any message that Gabriel might give. 

Sam determinedly kept his eyes closed even as the sounds made him more than curious to know what kind of skills Gabriel was showing to elicit such noises. He was just about to give up on there being a second message when he heard his name. His eyes snapped open to see a partially clothed Gabriel. He had at least put some pants back on. “Sam. I know that if either of you boneheads actually watch this far it will be you. If, for some unfathomable reason, it’s not then stop watching. I’ll give you a minute,” Gabriel started humming the jeopardy theme. “Well. Sammy, I hope you enjoyed the show,” Gabriel said with an eye waggle and a smirk, “But as you likely suspected I do have another message for you. Another way out of this mess if you will, but for you only. I’ve left a piece of my grace attached to this dvd, and it can be used to go back to the first time we met. Now I know you’re thinking ‘but you can’t change the past’ and you’d be right…usually…but as usual I’ve found a way around the rules.”

“Ok so what’s the catch,” Sam muttered to himself. 

“And I know you’re wondering what the catch is so here it is. You will be bound to me in a way. Nothing too invasive, I’ll just always know where you are and your general health and mental state, and on my side I’ll always feel compelled to help when you’re in bad shape and it will weaken me considerably until time catches back up with itself,” Gabriel explained. 

“Why would you do that?” Sam asked despite knowing that Gabriel couldn’t hear him. 

It seemed that Gabriel knew him better than he thought though because the next thing he said was, “And I know you’re asking yourself why I would do that, but I know you’re not going to like the answer so I’ll just tell you how to do it first and give you a chance to turn off the dvd. Here’s what you gotta do. It’s very simple. Just make sure you’re alone, hold the dvd in your hands and break it. It will release my grace, which will latch on to you and pull you to the first time we met. See? Simple. Now’s your chance to turn off the dvd if you don’t want to hear the rest,” Gabriel said again humming the jeopardy theme. 

Sam considered turning off the dvd for a moment. This was really the best option he was going to get, and what if what Gabriel said made him reconsider? Oh who was he kidding. His inherent curiosity was always going to have him watch the rest. 

“Ok so I guess you wanna know. I wish you had turned it off, and I’m sure you will wish the same by the time I’m done, but here goes. I’m doing this because I love you kiddo, and as I’m sitting here watching Lucifer go into the hotel, I realize that the only way to get you out of this…to save you; protect you…is to make sure it never happens.” Sam sucked in a sharp breath. Gabriel loved him. No way. This wasn’t possible. The Gabriel in the video took a deep shaky breath like that had taken a lot out of him. “So there you go. All laid out. Everything is in your hands now. Do with it what you will,” Gabriel said as the dvd ended. 

Sam just sat there and stared at the screen for a moment. He knew that he was going to do this. It was too good of a deal not to, but he couldn’t go in halfcocked. He had to have some sort of plan. He could figure out the whole feelings aspect of this later. He considered if he should tell Dean before he went. Maybe he would want Sam to take a message to his past self or something. Sam decided against it though. There is nothing that Dean would want to tell himself that Sam wouldn’t already know to tell him, except maybe regarding the whole demon blood business which totally wouldn’t be happening this time around anyway. 

He would have to tell past Dean though. He would have too much future knowledge to explain away, and he wouldn’t let people die when he already knew what the monster was and how to kill it. Not to mention he had to have some reason for letting Gabriel go…or should he let Gabriel go? The way he understood it, the only reason Gabriel did the whole mystery spot thing was because of Dean’s deal. Sam would be smarter this time around so there would be no deal so if he just let things play out the way they did the first time at the college that would be the end of it. 

Sam realized with that thought that he didn’t want that to be the end of it. He wanted Gabriel in their lives, even if he was a horrible annoyance. He would have to tell both Dean and Gabriel about the time travel. Sam turned the dvd back on and cued it up to the last part again. “I’m doing this because I love you kiddo, and as I’m sitting here watching Lucifer go into the hotel, I realize that the only way to get you out of this…to save you; protect you…is to make sure it never happens. So there you go. All laid out. Everything is in your hands now. Do with it what you will.” And Sam came to a few realizations. First of all, Gabriel had walked into that hotel knowing full well that he would die, and he had done it for Sam. To buy him time. To give him a fighting chance. Second, maybe Sam felt something for the annoying archangel as well. He had no idea what, but there was definitely something.

He backed up the dvd again and watched the whole final message one more time before he took it out, held it in his hands, and broke it.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam suddenly found himself standing in a hallway next to Dean in front of Gabriel as the disguised archangel swayed on his feet and nearly fell. Sam jumped forward and caught him before he hit the floor and Gabriel’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at him as Sam just breathed out, “Gabriel,” in awe and relief.

“What the hell?” Dean asked seeing his brother still holding onto the woozy janitor like he was afraid the smaller man might disappear. 

“I think I’d kinda like an answer to that too,” Gabriel said distrustfully. 

Sam sighed heavily. “Ok. Yeah. Let’s get you somewhere you can sit down first though. You said you’d be pretty weak,” he rambled as he moved the supposed janitor towards the nearest office. Once he was sitting Sam stood back and ran a hand through his hair with no idea where to start. “Ok cliffs notes version. Things go pretty shitty the next few years and you sent me back in time to fix it,” Sam said. 

“Wait…he did?” Dean asked gesturing to the janitor. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. He knew exactly who these two were and what they were meant to do. “Let me guess. You two muttonheads broke the world and I had to sweep up your mess?”

Sam smiled at the memory of Gabriel saying almost those exact words when they first asked for his help and said, “Yeah pretty much.”

“Sammy, so help me god if you don’t start explaining what’s going on here…” Dean trailed off threateningly. 

“Sorry. Dean, meet the archangel Gabriel slash trickster slash Loki,” Sam said.

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam and reached into his pocket and pulled out the holy water to splash him with. Sam rolled his eyes and then rolled up his sleeve as Dean pulled the silver knife. “Ok so still Sam, just crazy Sam,” Dean muttered. 

“I’m not crazy Dean,” Sam said seriously.

Gabriel seemed to have collected himself and stood in front of Sam surveying him inquisitively. He reached tentatively for the hunter’s head and at Sam’s nod placed his palm directly on Sam’s forehead.

“What the hell Sam! You can’t just let monsters go around touching you,” Dean said as he pulled his brother away from the little being. 

Sam sighed. “He’s not a monster Dean, and I trust him.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Gabriel said curiously. When both hunters turned to look at him, Sam smiling and Dean with suspicion. “I can feel my grace wound around him, but since I never did that obviously, it had to have been done by a future me.”

“Grace?” Dean asked with a derisive snort. 

“It’s what makes angels…well…angels. Where their power comes from,” Sam explained before Gabriel had a chance to. 

“You know a lot of very sensitive information kid,” Gabriel said narrowing his eyes at the hunter.

Sam realized that he was just revealing Gabriel’s secrets that he shouldn’t even know to someone else and that it was probably making Gabriel pretty uncomfortable. “I’m sorry Gabriel. Really. But he needs to know. It won’t go any further. You have my word.”

“Easier to just kill you,” Gabriel said dismissively. 

Dean immediately went on the defensive but Sam cut him off before he could say anything, “And you know full well the others will just bring us back.”

Dean slightly relaxed his stance seeing that Sam wasn’t even making a move to defend them. He really must trust this creature and what was that about bringing them back from the dead. 

“I could wipe your memories,” Gabriel said threateningly.

“Sure, you could. But that would be rather pointless since then we’d do everything we did last time and you would just end up sending me right back here. As much as you enjoy putting people in time loops that would be poetic justice I guess,” Sam said smirking.

Dean, having no memory of demons, demon blood, Lucifer, or Sam’s betrayals, still trusted his brother implicitly, so decided to follow his lead for now, but he wasn’t going to let his guard down. If Sam really was from the future, then he needed to run this show for now and he could wring every last answer from his neck later. 

“Then I’ll just keep you locked in my own little alternate universe,” Gabriel said getting annoyed now. 

Sam’s smirk widened, “From what you told me before you sent me back, I doubt you have the strength to do something like that, and you won’t until time catches back up to itself in…oh,” Sam made a show of looking at his watch, “three and a half years.” He knew that the easiest way to deal with the archangel would be on his own ground meaning to act like he would, and Sam was starting to understand why Gabriel was such a sarcastic smart ass. It really was pretty fun. 

Gabriel moved quick as lightening and had Sam pinned against the wall. Dean started forward, but Sam waved him off and his brother very reluctantly complied. “Do you have any idea who you’re messing with here kid?” he hissed in anger at the hunter.

Sam grinned. “Yup,” he said in Gabriel’s trademark way and bent his head forward to place a quick peck to the archangel’s lips. He hadn’t exactly meant to do that, but seeing Gabriel all pissed and manhandling him made his brain take a vacation for a few seconds, but it seemed to have done the trick and given Gabriel a moment of pause before he completely lost his temper and killed them anyway. 

Gabriel just blinked at the hunter trying to let his brain catch up with what just happened. And that explained a lot. If he had ended up falling for the hunter that would explain why he had gotten involved. But it still didn’t explain one thing. “So if I sent you back, why didn’t I come with you hmm?” Sam closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to well up in them and turned his head away. Gabriel suddenly understood. “I died,” he said. Sam nodded. “How?” Gabriel asked irritated. 

“We were captured,” Sam started in a pained voice. “Then Lucifer came, and you faced him to give us time to escape. He…he killed you.”

Gabriel threw Sam away from him to the floor. “Leave. And you both better keep your mouths shut. I still have more than enough power to make you wish you’d never been born.”

Sam pulled himself to his feet and grabbed Dean’s sleeve pulling his reluctant brother along behind him. Once they were gone Gabriel sighed heavily and pulled his hand over his face. This was supposed to be a fun easy job, and then he finds out some stupid hunters were gonna get him killed. 

 

Once Sam and Dean were back in their motel room, Dean turned angrily towards his brother, “Explain.”

“Ok long story short…” Sam began.

“Screw that bullshit. I want the long story,” Dean interrupted heatedly. 

“Ok fine. It starts in a few months when I’m abducted by the yellow-eyed-demon. He brings all the special kids together and makes us fight to the death. I won in the end, but of course I didn’t kill anyone. I just left the guy lying on the ground, which turned out to be a mistake because he stabbed me in the back just as you found us. I died. You sold your soul to bring me back. You spent forty years in hell being tortured and the first seal keeping Lucifer locked up was broken. Apparently your destiny was to break the first seal by ending up in hell,” he wasn’t going to tell his brother how the seal really broke. He was actually planning to leave out quite a bit, but Dean had no reason to know. “So after you died and went to hell I went nuts, hunting the demon that took you. You were rescued from hell by angels…”

Dean interrupted again, “There’s no such thing Sammy,” 

“You said that last time too, but there is. Believe me,” Sam said in a placating tone.

“So that Gabriel guy?” Dean asked.

“No he wasn’t the one that saved you. He’s actually on the run from heaven since his brothers started fighting and God left. That’s a long story and not really mine to tell, but anyway, you were rescued by the angels who wanted to use you to be the archangel Michael’s vessel, and I was still after the demon that took you to get revenge. Turns out that was the plan all along because she let me find her in the end and when I killed her that broke the last seal and released Lucifer. I was supposed to be his vessel, but angels need permission to use your body so we both kept saying no, but every time they caught up to us they tortured us to try and make us say yes. Then we got captured by a group of pagan gods who wanted to use as bait to stop the apocalypse, but Gabriel walks in as Loki and tried to sneak us out under their noses, but he was caught, they tried to kill him, but just killed an illusion instead while he left. When Lucifer showed up and slaughtered the pagan gods, Gabriel came back and distracted him long enough for us to escape and got killed for it. He left us a message on a dvd with two options. He told us how to trap Lucifer back in his cage or he could send me back to fix it.”

“Ok so why just you? Why not both of us, or even me?” Dean asked. 

“I’m not entirely sure. Maybe he wasn’t able to store enough power for more than one?” Sam suggested with a shrug.

“Does the reason it was you have anything to do with why you kissed him?” Dean asked with a grimace.

“Yeah,” was all Sam said.

“So you were together?” Dean asked.

“No. He just kinda confessed to having feelings for me in his final message, and I kinda figured out that I did too. Not like it matters now anyway though,” Sam said sadly. Gabriel of this time didn’t know him, didn’t trust him, and had no particular reason to stick around knowing that it ended in his death last time.


	3. Chapter 3

On their next case, they found the bones quickly because Sam knew where they were buried and they managed to convince Molly that she needed to move on. It was pretty much open and shut. When they got wind of a werewolf in San Francisco though, Sam remembered Madison. He could save a lot of people by just going in and killing her, and the creepy neighbor, but he didn’t know if he could bring himself to do it. He remembered how it felt last time, and she used to mean something to him, so Sam did something he had been trying not to do. He prayed to Gabriel.

“Gabriel. I know you want your space and I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to you,” he waited a moment to see if the archangel would show and when he didn’t Sam continued in the prayer. “See there’s this woman and she meant something to be once…before…but she has been turned into a werewolf. She’s a good person and doesn’t deserve to die. I was hoping there was something you knew of that might help. Some way to fix her. If you don’t want to talk to me that’s fine, but her name is Madison and she lives at 18 Peach street in San Francisco apartment 7. Please Gabriel, help her if you can,” he finished. 

They arrived in San Francisco to find both werewolves already dead. “What the hell kills like that?” Dean asked shocked. 

“An angel,” Sam said sadly as they pulled the sheet back over the body at the morgue. “I prayed to Gabriel for help. I guess he helped the only way he could.” Sam hated that she had to die, but was glad that he didn’t have to do it this time around. He sent a silent prayer to Gabriel to thank him. He didn’t expect a response and he didn’t get one either. He refused to consider how much that hurt. He had come to terms with the fact that he had somehow fallen in love with the enigmatic archangel, but knew that it was all for naught and Gabriel wanted nothing to do with him this time around. 

The rest of their cases over the next months were ridiculously easy as Sam already knew who, what, and how in each of them. They even had time to take on a few extra cases in between since those went so quickly. And if they happened to pass through a town where Sam knew that something would happen in the future, they made a quick bone burning or werewolf killing or vamp killing stop before things could get out of hand. Sam was doing his best to keep busy and keep his mind off Gabriel, but every night when he went to sleep his dreams were haunted by wavy hair the color of desert sand, glittering whiskey eyes and smirking lips. 

When he was abducted by yellow eyes, Dean knew where Sam was this time around and was already making his way there as soon as Sam disappeared. He had been warned that the town was surrounded by demons to keep them in so Dean was prepared. With any luck this would go without a hitch, but they both knew that Azazel wouldn’t give up. Sam knew how this whole plot worked now. The town was tainted and magnified the effect of the demon blood in their veins. The first time you killed someone within the town it made you more open for corruption. That’s why Ava was as far gone as she was, and how Jake became twisted so quickly afterwards. 

He didn’t see how he could prevent the hell gate from being opened. Even if he were able to save everyone else, Ava could still be used to open it, and he couldn’t exactly kill her or allow anyone else to kill her or they would be the ones used. So when Dean arrived to pick them up, they fought their way out, dropped the others off at the nearest bus station and made their way immediately to the hell gate trying to head them off before the attack. This time there was no hesitation. As soon as she came in sight Dean killed Ava before she could pull any mind tricks on them and retrieved the colt. Then they went looking for Azazel and found him waiting beside the tracks.

They had, in hindsight, rather foolishly walked around the outside of the tracks so as soon as Azazel saw them with the colt, he appeared behind Sam, holding him hostage between Dean and the gun. He could take Sam and find a way to salvage this if he could just get the gun from the brother. Being in such close proximity to Sam, he was able to notice something off about him and when he realized what it was he sneered. Yes he could definitely get something out of this. 

Azazel thought for a moment about his options here and the best way to do this. If he was fast enough he might be able to pull this off. Dean was holding his ground nervously pointing the gun towards his brother waiting for an opportunity to get the demon behind him. Azazel though pulled some twine from his pocket and tied Sam’s hands behind his back. It wouldn’t hold the hunter for long but it would hold him for long enough. 

Once Sam was tied securely he transported himself in front of Dean, shoved him backwards and pulled the gun from his grasp as he did so, before appearing back behind Sam and disappearing with the hunter. They reappeared in an abandoned warehouse and he tied the hunter much more securely to one of the struts in the center of the room as he began painting Enochian sigils on the walls. Sam cursed himself for not making more time to learn Enochian. He had no idea what they were, but he had a really bad feeling about this. In fact, he was feeling a lot like bait at the moment, and there was no way he would let this demon get his hands on Gabriel.

Azazel made his way back to Sam after he was finished and said, “Now you’re going to call your little guardian angel down here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sam said.

“Oh but you do. I can smell his grace around you,” Azazel said cruelly. He knew that he would have to get the angel out of the way before he could deal with Sam. It explained how the hunter was able to thwart him so completely. “Now call him,” he ordered. 

Sam knew that this demon would never let him call an angel here unless those sigils were meant to kill or incapacitate Gabriel so he refused only to receive a punch to the jaw. “You will call him Sam. You can choose whether it’s the easy way or the hard way.”

When Sam remained silent the demon pulled a knife and slashed it down the hunter’s cheek. Sam didn’t even give him the satisfaction of crying out, even as the demon made more and more cuts along the hunter’s body. He even stayed silent as all his fingers were broken, but when the demon moved on to larger bones, Sam couldn’t help the scream that escaped. He still refused to call for Gabriel though. It wasn’t until the knife was buried in Sam’s stomach that Gabriel appeared and immediately healed him as Azazel slapped a bloody hand on one of the sigils and disappeared with a laugh as Gabriel fell to the ground, though he was still conscious. Sam had forgotten the fact that Gabriel would feel compelled to come help him if his health declined too much. 

“Oh God. Gabriel!” Sam cried as he struggled against the ropes that bound him. Gabriel huffed and stood unsteadily and walked over to untie him and Sam immediately grabbed him and sat him back down. “Are you okay? What do those sigils do?” he asked frantically. 

“Oh so finally something about angels you don’t know?” Gabriel snarked at him. 

“I never had the chance to learn Enochian. I just know some of the more common wards and banishments,” Sam said not at all bothered by the archangel’s attitude. 

“Well from what I can tell they are binding sigils combined with draining sigils. My grace is completely bound and it is siphoning it off, so yippee,” Gabriel said sarcastically. “What the hell happened?” Sam told him everything since he landed in the ghost town up until they got to the warehouse. “So what was the point of the whole torture session then?” Gabriel asked.

“Apparently he could smell your grace on me and wanted to make me call you,” Sam said guiltily. He knew it was all his fault that Gabriel was in this mess. 

“Well that’s just peachy. How much did you tell him?” Gabriel asked heatedly. 

“Nothing!” Sam insisted. 

Gabriel just sneered, “So 47 cuts and 18 broken bones and you expect me to believe you told him nothing at all?”

“I didn’t even confirm that I knew an angel at all,” Sam said indignantly. 

“And why would you go to so much trouble to protect someone so much stronger than you anyway,” Gabriel asked heatedly still not believing the hunter for a second. 

“Because I love you, you idiot, and I knew those sigils were bad news so no I wouldn’t call you, and who knows what that bastard could do with the knowledge I have of you so no I didn’t tell him anything either okay!” Sam yelled at the archangel who was now looking at him blankly. Sam didn’t regret anything that he had said despite knowing that this Gabriel didn’t care one whit about him. 

Gabriel just stood, having regained enough of the normal human strength of his vessel to do so and stormed towards the door. If he couldn’t fly out of here he would damn well walk out of there. At least that was his plan until he noticed that the door had been welded shut and was at least three inches thick and solid metal. He tugged at it in vain a few times. Without his angelic strength he was even weaker than Sam now though. Even with the hunter helping him they couldn’t budge the door and they couldn’t see any other way out.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel was beyond frustrated, and the worst part was it wasn’t even Sam’s fault. It was his own. Well his obviously brain dead future self anyway. He wondered, not for the first time, what he had been thinking. Here he was about to die for stupid little Sam Winchester again! He paced the room in anger for a while as Sam just found a spot to sit against the wall watching him in amusement. He knew that Gabriel would wear himself out before long and become much more reasonable and then maybe they could find a way out of this mess. 

Gabriel suddenly felt something wrong with his leg and yelped as he hit the floor. Sam rushed over to him. “What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly. 

“How the hell am I supposed to know!? I’m not usually susceptible to human frailties,” he said heatedly as he groped at his leg trying to get it to stop hurting. 

“Move,” Sam said pushing his hands out of the way as he felt along where the archangel was gripping. He forced down his laughter and managed to say evenly, “It’s a muscle cramp. Hang on,” as he started kneading the muscle to work it out. 

Gabriel was very uncomfortable with this, but it was still better than the cramp that he could already feel easing so he allowed it. At least until it was bearable then he pushed Sam’s hands away. “It’s fine now,” he said petulantly. 

Sam sat back on his heels and looked at Gabriel as if trying to see what he was thinking. Gabriel hated that. He hated that someone knew him so well, but if he was going to die for the hunter again he might as well try to figure out why. Gabriel huffed indignantly. “So we were together before I died?” Gabriel asked.

“No,” Sam said sadly. “You never told me how you felt. You left a damn message after you died telling me that you were in love with me,” he said wryly. “If you had just told me…” he trailed off. 

Gabriel snorted. That sounded like him. He would never admit to loving someone if he wasn’t absolutely certain that the feelings would be returned. “Why did you never tell me then? Takes two to tango Samsquatch,” he said.

Sam choked a little at the nickname and when Gabriel looked at him curiously he just said, “That’s what you always called me before. And to answer your question I didn’t realize how I felt about you until I heard you say it.”

“Yeah okay. I get that, but what is it about you that had the other me so tied up in knots? I mean you’re just a human, and Lucifer’s vessel at that. It’s just wrong,” Gabriel said distastefully. 

Sam ignored Gabriel’s revulsion and answered the question as best he could, which of course was not at all. “I have no idea. Your little dying message didn’t say that much.” 

“Well since we obviously have nothing better to do, tell me about us,” he said leaning against the wall. 

Sam smiled and did so. He told him about their meeting at the college, how they pegged him as the trickster and then tried to kill him before he was interrupted by Gabriel who snorted, “So you tried to kill me huh? Yep can totally see how I would fall for you,” he said sarcastically.

Sam laughed and just said, “The next time we met wasn’t much better,” as he began telling him all about the mystery spot and Dean dying over and over.

“So that’s what you meant with that comment about time loops,” Gabriel said laughing at his own jokes that he hadn’t played yet. 

Sam rolled his eyes. He continued the story with Dean’s last death and how he spent every waking moment obsessed with hunting the trickster. “I have no idea how much of that you watched me for, but knowing you like I do now I’m sure it was most of it. You left me enough breadcrumbs to follow to keep me hooked on the chase.”

“That definitely sounds like me. I bet it was hilarious.”

“Yeah for you maybe,” Sam said annoyed. 

“Do I sense a little bitterness there?” Gabriel asked amused.

“Just over how much you seem to be enjoying this now. I forgave you a long time ago for the incident. As soon as I realized what you had been trying to teach me. What you wanted to prevent.”

“And what was it I was trying to prevent?” Gabriel asked curiously.

“Dean had sold his soul to bring me back to life after I died what should have been a few days ago. He got one year and his time was running out. You wanted me to learn to let go so I wouldn’t go nuts and go after Lilith,” Sam said guiltily. 

“Ah yeah. Sounds about right,” Gabriel admitted with a shrug. 

“So anyway I tracked you down in the end,” Sam started and Gabriel just snorted derisively. “Ok so you let me track you down in the end, took the stake out of my hand with just a thought and I kinda fell apart,” Sam said looking down. 

“Fell apart how?” Gabriel asked curiously all traces of amusement vanishing.

“I begged you to bring him back, maybe even cried a bit,” Sam said in embarrassment, “You kept telling me you were trying to teach me something. That I needed to let go. That it would only end badly if I didn’t, but I wouldn’t listen. I just kept begging you to bring him back, and finally you just gave up and left, and I woke up back in the motel room with Dean.”

Sam stopped talking as Gabriel looked lost in thought as he looked at the hunter curiously. He was starting to see what he saw in the kid at least. He definitely admired tenacity and seeing a grown man in tears when he didn’t really deserve it yet would definitely be enough to tug on his heartstrings. “So then I saved you and died?” he asked. 

“Not just yet. First you trapped us in a dimension filled with crappy tv shows because we wouldn’t say yes to Michael and Lucifer and you wanted us to play our roles and get it over with,” he started and told him the whole story right up to Gabriel turning him into a car. He hesitated to tell the next part though. 

“Oh come on, you staked me and then cried all over me. What could be worse than that?” Gabriel asked impatiently. 

“Well we…um…had a theory about what you really were so we kinda…um…trappedyouinaringofholyfire,” Sam said so fast that Gabriel almost didn’t catch it. 

Almost. “You did what!?” he asked angrily. 

“You wouldn’t let us go. What were we supposed to do? It’s not like we had any other leverage to make you release us!” Sam said in explanation. 

“Maybe but something tells me you didn’t just make me let you go and then release me,” Gabriel said getting hostile. 

Sam had the good grace to look abashed at that. “We may have asked you a few questions.”

“And made me spill my guts before you so graciously let me free I’m sure,” Gabriel spat. 

“Just about what you wanted with us and why you cared so much. It’s not like we made you spill your whole life story just to get juicy gossip,” Sam defended himself. 

“Fine. Whatever. So what happened next?”

“The next time we saw you was when we were captured by a bunch of pagan gods. They wanted to use me and Dean as bargaining chips to stop the apocalypse, or kill us. They were trying to decide.”

“Those idiots. It would never have worked,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes at their stupidity.

“Yeah that’s pretty much what you told them when you barged in. Then you tried sneaking us out but they caught you and Kali killed you, or so we all thought, but you had switched your blade out with a fake and escaped.”

Gabriel ignored the twisting in his gut at the idea of Kali trying to kill him and forged ahead, “I’m guessing I didn’t stay gone then.”

“No. You didn’t. Lucifer came and slaughtered almost everyone. By the time you popped in only Kali, Dean, and me were left. You faced off against Lucifer and had us get Kali out of there.”

“No way. I wouldn’t have risked myself to save her after she killed me,” Gabriel said in disbelief. 

Sam snorted. “After watching your message I realized that you only told us to get her out of there because you knew that having someone to protect was the only way to get us to stay out of the fight and leave,” he said sadly. 

“So tell me about this dying message of mine,” Gabriel asked. 

Sam gave a little laugh. “It was this really crappy porn movie. After you came in the room you told Dean and I about the horsemen’s rings and how they were the keys to the cage and we should try to trap Lucifer again, but then when you stopped talking and started…you know…we turned it off. We got the rings but the only plan we had to get Lucifer back in the cage was for me to say yes to him, take control, and jump in, but before I did that I got the idea that there might be more to your message so I…um…”

“Oh please. You had the hots for me and wanted to see me naked before you heroically killed yourself. I’m fine with it. Go on,” Gabriel waved a hand for him to continue.

Sam turned beet red but didn’t see the point in disputing what the archangel said since he was partially right at least. “So then at the end you had a message just for me telling me how you put some of your grace into the dvd and how to use it to throw me back to when we met and told me you loved me and the only way to protect me was to undo it before it started,” Sam finished quickly. 

Gabriel just laughed heartily and said, “So Sammy,” he drawled. “Just one question for you.”

Sam knew that a zinger was coming from his tone so he said warily, “What question?”

“Did you like what you saw?” Gabriel asked waggling his eyebrows in amusement. 

Sam turned beet red once again and sputtered for a moment. “I closed my eyes when you started taking off your pants,” he admitted.

“But Samsquatch, that means you missed all the best parts,” he said laughing. Gabriel started getting an idea. He had no intention of dying without getting laid one last time and he eyed the hunter appraisingly.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel scooted a little closer to Sam and ran a hand seductively up his leg smirking at the hunter who just shifted uncomfortably and said, “Gabriel? What…what are you doing?”

“Hey if I’m gonna die here, I want one last romp in the hay,” he said with a shrug.

“You’re not gonna die Gabriel,” Sam said firmly.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, “What do you think will happen when those sigils finish their work and take the last of my grace from me?” he asked sarcastically. 

Sam took a deep breath and forced himself to think. “You can get a power boost from touching my soul right? We just need to buy some time until Dean finds us and gets us out of here.”

“Sam. If I try to touch your soul with my grace bound I won’t have any control over how much I take and your entire soul will be sucked dry and you will die,” Gabriel told him.

“If it comes to that. If Dean isn’t here in time. Then do it,” Sam said nervously. 

Gabriel just scoffed at the stupidity of hunters. It would be poetic justice. He died for Sam once before apparently. It could be Sam’s turn this time, but he wouldn’t do that. Not a chance. He would save his arguments for later if they were even needed though, “Ok then one last romp in the hay for you before you die,” Gabriel said leaning close and running a finger down the side of Sam’s face. “What do you say Sammy? Wanna see all the parts you missed up close and personal?”

Gabriel was so close their noses were almost touching and he had that damnable smirk plastered on his face. Sam closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Gabriel’s and Gabriel’s hand slid around the back of Sam’s neck pulling him closer as his tongue darted out to explore the hunter’s mouth. His other hand moved slowly down Sam’s chest and started untucking Sam’s shirt as his fingers dipped under dancing over the sensitive skin on the hunter’s sides.

Sam’s hands pushed Gabriel’s jacket off his shoulders and pulled down over the archangel’s toned chest and stomach enjoying the feel of the wiry muscle beneath his hands. Once he reached the bottom of Gabriel’s stomach he slid his hands underneath the archangel’s shirt and started running them back up. By the time his fingertips had reached Gabriel’s collarbones, the archangel broke the kiss and pulled his own shirt off over his head followed by Sam’s before attacking the hunter’s mouth again and pushing him onto his back. 

When Gabriel slid on top of him, Sam was heartened to feel that the archangel was just as hard as he was and he bucked his hips up rubbing their erections together as Gabriel’s mouth moved from his lips across his jawbone and down to his neck alternating between licking, sucking, and nipping at the soft skin drawing breathless moans from the hunter as he roamed his hands over Gabriel’s back and shoulder blades. 

When Gabriel gave a sharp bite to the base of Sam’s collarbone, the hunter’s hips rocked up and he dug his nails into Gabriel’s back. “Mmm. Now we’re talking Sammy,” he murmured as he rocked his hips back into the hunter’s and his gentle nips became sharper and stronger still interspersed with draws of his lips and tongue over the skin as Sam came apart beneath him. Shaky hands found their way to Gabriel’s pants as the archangel ghosted a breath over Sam’s nipple, so Gabriel went with it and began undoing Sam’s pants as well. 

Gabriel moved back enough to divest them both of their remaining clothes before slotting himself back over top of the hunter moaning as their naked erections pressed together and snapped his fingers. “Damnit,” he said when nothing happened. He had forgotten that he couldn’t access his grace. 

“What?” Sam asked breathlessly. 

“No lube,” Gabriel muttered. He had never been in this situation before so wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. Luckily for him Sam had been in college and done his fair share of experimenting, so Sam grabbed Gabriel’s hand and wrapped his mouth around two of Gabriel’s fingers and started sucking on them. Gabriel had to brace himself against the wave of lust that washed over him as he moaned and rolled his hips over Sam’s. 

Sam’s own lust darkened eyes stayed on Gabriel’s the whole time he sucked on the fingers teasing over them with his tongue as their hips rocked together. When they were good and moist he pulled them from his mouth and moved Gabriel’s hand down to his entrance where the archangel wasted no time in plunging one of them in directly against Sam’s prostate making the hunter cry out in pleasure as he reached down grabbing both of their cocks in his large hand and began pumping, smearing pre-cum all over both of them. 

“F-uck Sammy,” Gabriel stuttered as he bucked his hips into the hunter’s hand as he slid a second finger into Sam’s ass and began scissoring them, opening the hunter up for him. Once Sam was as ready as he was going to get he lifted the hunter’s hips and lined himself up with Sam’s entrance and slowly slid himself in with a breathless moan. “Shit Sammy. You feel so good.”

Sam moaned along with him relishing in the burning sensation he felt. He was still in awe that he was getting Gabriel like this. He knew that this was probably all he would ever get and was eager to pull all he could out of this moment. When the archangel began moving in him Sam leaned up and pulled Gabriel down into a kiss which he enthusiastically returned. Sam was nearly bent in two with his knees over Gabriel’s shoulders as the archangel pounded into him while plundering his mouth with his tongue. 

When they broke for air Sam gasped out, “God Gabe…so close.”

Gabriel could feel his own release nearing as well so pushed a hand between them and began stroking Sam in time with his thrusts. “Cum for me Sammy,” he said breathlessly and Sam did, pulling Gabriel over the edge with him. 

Once they were spent Gabriel collapsed bonelessly on top of the hunter and groaned. “I hate being human.”

Sam chuckled, “Why is that?”

“Because I’m hungry and thirsty and sleepy now,” he grumbled, the sound muffled by Sam’s chest. 

Sam smiled, still chuckling and stretched his arm out trying to reach his jacket without dislodging the lounging archangel. He finally hooked a finger around the collar and pulled it close enough that he could get to the pockets. He pulled out a power bar and a flask of holy water and handed them to the archangel. “Eat, drink, and go to sleep then.”

Gabriel somehow managed to do so without doing more than lifting his head as he drank half the flask in one go. Sam also took a small sip after him. Just enough to wet his dry mouth. He was far more used to hunger and thirst than Gabriel so would gladly go without. When Gabriel sighed and sank back on top of Sam he asked amused, “What, you’re sleeping there?”

“You’re warm and softer then the floor,” Gabriel muttered sleepily against his chest. 

Sam laughed and rolled his eyes pressing a kiss to the archangel’s head as Gabriel drifted off to sleep. Sam slid his coat under his head and followed. 

Sam woke up cold and looked up to see a now fully clothed Gabriel pacing. Sam got up wincing. His body was killing him sleeping on that cold concrete floor all night. He pulled his clothes on, feeling very exposed all of a sudden and walked over to Gabriel. He couldn’t begin to understand how frustrated and annoyed the archangel was at being cooped up. It was like caging a hurricane, not that he particularly liked being locked up either, but he knew how to cope at least. 

He wanted to get Gabriel’s mind on something else and something struck him that he wanted to say. “Gabriel,” he said placing a hand on his shoulder. Gabriel spun and raised an eyebrow at him waiting for him to speak. “When you need a power boost just…”

Gabriel cut him off. “Not gonna happen kiddo.”

“But you said…” Sam trailed off trying to remember exactly what the archangel had said exactly.

“I said nothing. You said. I humored you because I wanted to get laid.”

“Gabriel…” Sam said wearily.

“I said not gonna happen so drop it,” Gabriel said firmly as he resumed his pacing. 

“How bad is it? I mean how long…” Sam was unable to put it into words but knew Gabriel would know what he meant. 

“Another day. Maybe a little more,” Gabriel said resentfully. 

“Dean will find us,” Sam said assuredly. 

“In time?” Gabriel asked skeptically. 

“He has to,” Sam said softly not wanting to consider losing Gabriel again. Well losing him to death anyway. He was sure that as soon as they got out of here Gabriel would put as much distance between them as he could. 

Sam watched Gabriel pace for another half hour before he put his hands on Gabriel shoulders and stopped him. “Pacing isn’t going to get us out of here any faster,” Sam said. He knew better than to tell Gabriel that it was driving him nuts. The archangel would never stop if he did. 

“It’s not like there’s anything else to do in this shithole,” Gabriel said frustrated. 

Sam smirked and placed his hands on the wall behind Gabriel as he stepped close. “I could think of a few things to pass the time.”

Gabriel smirked right back and crossed his arms loosely over his chest as he leaned casually back against the wall. “Oh really? Like what?” he asked playfully. 

Sam just leaned closer. “I have some ideas.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow not losing his smirk, “Put up or shut up Samsquatch,” he said provocatively. 

Sam’s response was to crash his lips against the archangel’s using his body to press him against the wall as Gabriel’s arms uncrossed and grabbed Sam’s hips pulling them tightly together. One of Sam’s hands tangled in Gabriel’s hair and he pulled sharply snatching Gabriel’s head to the side as Sam attached his lips to the archangel’s neck. Gabriel gasped and bucked his hips forward instantly hard as his hands reached around grabbing Sam’s ass and pulling him forward hard. 

Sam quickly divested them of their shirts before turning his attention to Gabriel’s chest as he sucked and bit and licked over every inch, spending a great deal of time on Gabriel’s nipples, before moving still lower until he was on his knees in front of the archangel. As he kissed over Gabriel’s stomach, he moved his hands to undo his pants and slide them down as Gabriel obediently stepped out of them and Sam wasted no time in taking the large cock in his mouth and swallowing around it, drawing a keening moan from Gabriel as his hand twisted in Sam’s hair pulling him in for more, which Sam dutifully took. 

Sam ran a hand up Gabriel’s chest and pressed two of his fingers into the archangel’s mouth as Gabriel began sucking them just as vigorously as Sam was sucking on his cock. As Sam teased his tongue around Gabriel’s cock, Gabriel did the same on Sam’s fingers, until Sam pulled them out and lifted one of Gabriel’s legs over his shoulder and pressed a finger quickly inside him immediately hitting his prostate and Gabriel’s grip tightened in the hunter’s hair as he let out a low moan grinding himself down on Sam’s finger which was now moving rapidly in and out of his tight ass. 

It was soon joined by a second finger as Gabriel felt himself being stretched open while Sam’s head bobbed over his aching cock. “Shit Sammy…so fucking good,” he gasped out. “Fuck…in me…” he ordered and Sam wasted no time complying. He stood while undoing his pants. He was so hard and ready he didn’t even waste time taking them off, just shoved them down enough to let his cock out freely as he draped Gabriel’s leg over his arm, lined himself up and thrust in hard and fast as his lips captured Gabriel’s in a ferocious kiss. 

Sam didn’t pause for a moment as he just pounded into Gabriel over and over while his tongue plundered Gabriel’s mouth. They were both moaning and driving off of each other’s lust and Sam reached between them and started pumping Gabriel’s cock in time with his thrusts. It took no time at all for Gabriel to spill over, pulling the hunter with him as they both whimpered into the other’s mouth, not separating until they were spent when Sam pulled back enough to rest his forehead against the archangel’s and close his eyes drinking in the moment before he stepped back and pulled his pants back up smirking at the archangel. “Now isn’t that a better way to pass the time than pacing?”

Gabriel winked at the hunter, “You better believe it Samsquatch.”


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel pulled his pants back on leaving his shirt for now as he slid down the wall sitting and leaning his head back against it. Sam sat down next to him. He wanted nothing more than to pull the archangel close, but this wasn’t a relationship thing. This was sex to pass the time while waiting for rescue thing and he didn’t want to push his luck. He instead grabbed another power bar from his coat pocket and passed it to the archangel. That was his last one though, but Gabriel didn’t have more than another day anyway and if help didn’t arrive by then hunger would be the last thing on his mind. He took another sip of the holy water saving the rest for Gabriel after he ate.

This time Gabriel was awake enough to notice that Sam wasn’t eating. “You’re not having one?” he asked curiously. The hunter had to be hungry by now. They had been trapped nearly twenty-four hours and he hadn’t seen Sam eat anything at all. 

“Nah I’m good,” Sam just waved it off.

“Sam,” Gabriel said warningly not wanting to deal with any bullshit.

Sam rolled his eyes. “I’m used to being hungry. You’re not. Eat.”

Gabriel heard what Sam didn’t say. That he had given Gabriel all the food he had and Gabriel couldn’t help but be warmed by that. He broke the bar in half and held half out to Sam. He wasn’t warmed enough to give up the whole thing, but he could share. Sometimes. Sam raised a questioning eyebrow at the archangel to ask if he was sure, but Gabriel just echoed him and said, “Eat.”

Sam shrugged and did as he was told. He took another small sip of the water to wash it down before Gabriel copied him, realizing that he had drank half their entire water supply the night before. He wasn’t used to trying to ration anything. They sat in silence for a little while before Gabriel said, “Sam?” 

“Hmm?” Sam replied.

“Thanks,” the archangel said softly.

“For what?” Sam asked. 

“For sharing your food and water. For being understanding and trying to make this more bearable for me. I’m sure knowing me as well as you do that you know being caged is pretty much my worst nightmare,” Gabriel admitted sheepishly. “Followed very closely by being powerless.”

Sam risked it and reached out and put a hand over Gabriel’s. “Your welcome. And we will get out of here and you’ll be back to wreaking havoc all over the world in no time,” he said with a smile. Sam had pretty much known all that just based on Gabriel’s reaction to the holy fire they trapped him in. 

Gabriel gave his hand a grateful squeeze. “I think the wards are taking a lot out of me. I’m tired again,” he said annoyed.

Sam laughed and pulled Gabriel down so his head was resting in Sam’s lap. “Sleep,” he said as he started running his fingers through the archangel’s hair, marveling at how soft it was even after being trapped for a day and their activities during that time. Gabriel started shivering in his sleep so Sam covered him with his coat and hoped that it was just because he was cold and not a symptom of a bigger problem like his grace getting too weak. 

Sam’s hopes proved to be unfounded though as Gabriel stirred awake a few times, just long enough to tell him that he was running out of time. Sam sat him up long enough to give him some water despite Gabriel’s protests that he save it for himself. “Are you cold?” Sam asked as the archangel was still shivering. 

“The floor is cold,” Gabriel said in explanation. It didn’t help that he still didn’t have a shirt on either. 

Sam shifted them so that Gabriel’s back was against his chest with his head leaning back on Sam’s shoulder before covering them up with his coat. It was easier than trying to maneuver Gabriel’s shirt back on with him being so weak. Sam was just about to give up hope when he heard banging on the door. “Sammy! You in there!”

“Dean!” Sam yelled. 

“I’m coming Sammy!”

“Hurry!” Sam called urgently. 

Dean could detect the note of panic in Sam’s voice and after realizing that there was no way he would be getting the door to budge and noticing the lack of windows, he dug deep in the trunk pulling out a sledgehammer and went to work on the cinderblock walls. 

Even with the noise and yelling Gabriel didn’t stir. Sam could tell he was still breathing, but his skin was getting cold. “Just hang on a little longer Gabriel. We’re almost out of here. Okay?” Sam whispered pressing his lips lightly against Gabriel’s neck. “Just hang on.”

As soon as Sam could see daylight through the wall he stood and scooped Gabriel up in his arms and rushed over to the wall. As soon as the hole was big enough Sam started sliding Gabriel through. “Get him away from here. Take him to a motel or something and then come back and get me. I’ll work on making the hole big enough to get out of. Just hurry.”

Dean knew better than to argue when Sam got that note in his voice and reluctantly did as he was told, passing Sam the sledgehammer. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. 

There was a motel just a few miles down the road, he rented a room, tossed Gabriel on the bed, absently noting his lack of a shirt and made it back to the warehouse as Sam was just climbing out of the hole. As Dean started the car and headed back towards the motel where he left Gabriel he turned to Sam and asked, “Okay what the hell happened back there?”

Sam sighed, “The demon could apparently sense Gabriel’s leftover grace from the time travel and tortured me trying to get me to call Gabriel. I wouldn’t, but I forgot that his grace in me gives him a sort of monitor of my health, so when it got too bad he showed up to heal me and he was trapped with me while the wards that the demon put up sucked his grace out of him killing him slowly.”

“Shit,” Dean said. Seemed he would have to start trusting the archangel too, if he had almost died from trying to help his brother. He didn’t count dying in the future since he hadn’t done that yet. “Will he be alright?”

“His grace should be able to replenish itself now that he’s away from the wards. I have no idea how long it might take though,” Sam said.

“Well we really shouldn’t stay in the area. The demon will probably be looking for us.”

“Actually I think this is the best place for us to be,” Sam said thoughtfully. 

“Why?” Dean asked confused.

“Think about it. When he realizes that we escaped he will assume that we are running and look for us everywhere but here. We just need to buy enough time for Gabriel to get back to full strength again. There is no way in hell that he will let yellow eyes get away with trapping him like that. He won’t be a problem for much longer,” Sam said in satisfaction as they pulled into the motel. 

Sam barreled into the room and seeing Gabriel just dumped on the bed he rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. He got that his brother was worried about him and considered himself lucky that Dean left in the first place, so he just eased the blanket out from under the archangel and draped it over him instead, before grabbing the blanket from the other bed and adding that to the mix. He sat down next to Gabriel and placed his hand over the archangel’s face and neck checking to see if his skin was getting warmer and thankfully it was. He sighed in relief and went to sit at the table next to Dean. 

Dean looked at Sam with an unreadable expression. “You love him don’t you?” Sam just nodded so Dean shook his head in exasperation. “You think he’ll stick around?”

“I doubt it,” Sam said sadly, and Dean thankfully dropped the subject and offered to go get more blankets from the office since Gabriel was using both of the ones they had. He wasn’t going to risk Sam’s wrath by taking one of them away. 

When Dean got back he looked at the beds curiously wondering if he was going to end up sleeping on the floor. He wasn’t about to deny his brother a bed after being trapped in an old warehouse for a day and a half, but Sam crawled into bed next to Gabriel and Dean raised an eyebrow as the archangel rolled unconsciously towards Sam’s body heat. Sam was too far gone to see it though as he drifted off to sleep with Gabriel draped over him.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam woke and unconsciously reached for the archangel finding the bed empty. It seemed like the archangel had left and Sam wished he had at least said goodbye. That thought had barely crossed his mind when the bathroom door opened and Gabriel strolled out a towel around his hips and another drying his hair. He smirked at Sam. “Good. You’re awake. Your brother went out to get breakfast. I told him you hadn’t eaten.”

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked worriedly.

“Almost back to full power,” he said twirling a bit making Sam gulp at the sight of the archangel in nothing but a towel as all his blood rushed downstairs. Gabriel knew he would have to have a difficult conversation with the hunter. He usually just ripped the bandaid off, but Sam had been so kind and helpful to him, he wanted to let him down easy. “Sam about what happened in that warehouse…”

Sam cut him off. He knew what Gabriel was going to say and he really didn’t want to hear the words. “I get it Gabriel. Really. You thought you were going to die,” Sam said quickly. Hearing the archangel say it didn’t mean anything would be probably the worst thing he could think to hear right now. 

Gabriel popped up from where he had been sitting on the bed, “Good!” he said perkily. “And maybe if you’re lucky I might come back for more someday,” he said with a wink.

Sam smiled and said, “I’m never that lucky,” letting Gabriel know that he wanted it but wasn’t going to hold him to anything. 

Gabriel leaned over Sam in the bed so close their noses were touching and smirked. “We’ll have to see about that,” he said pressing a hard fast kiss to the hunter’s lips before standing back and snapping his fingers to become fully dressed. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have a demon to eviscerate.”

“Wait,” Sam said before Gabriel could snap his fingers. The archangel raised an eyebrow at the hunter in question. “Will you come back and tell us what you did with him? We have kinda been hunting him our whole lives and your punishments are always so inventive,” Sam said with a grin trying to think of what the archangel would possibly do.

Gabriel laughed heartily. “Sure thing Samsquatch. I’ll make sure to come up with something extra special for him,” Gabriel said as he disappeared. 

Dean arrived back with what looked like enough food to feed five, no more than five minutes after Gabriel left. “Where’d the pixie go?” Dean asked.

Sam’s lips quirked in amusement, “Pixie?”

Dean shrugged. “He’s short, hyper, and has wings. Pixie.”

Sam laughed and said, “He went demon hunting.”

Dean nodded tersely. He wanted to be the one to kill the demon, but couldn’t deny that the archangel had good reason too after being trapped and nearly killed. “I just hope he tells us when it’s dead.”

Sam grinned. “Oh he will. Along with what exactly he did with him. Believe me, once Gabriel gets his hands on him he won’t get off easy and it will make for a very amusing story.”

Dean let out a little laugh. “Good.”

 

It was about a week later when Gabriel popped in with news. “I bring tidings of great joy,” he said with a flourish and a grin and both hunters laughed hysterically at him. “The demon has met its demise.”

Sam turned and made himself comfortable waiting for a good story, and Dean followed his lead. So Gabriel smirked and began his story. “Well it only took me about a day to find him, not that he knew I had found him of course. I bound him to his meatsuit and put a rotting curse on him, and just watched as he slowly rotted away, rather painfully I might add, for five days,” he said with a laugh. I thought about just killing him then, but I wanted to see the look on his face when he found out just who he had pissed off and how screwed he really was.”

“Oh I wish I could see that,” Sam said chuckling. 

“Your wish is my command Samsquatch,” Gabriel said dramatically as he waved his arms and produced a moving picture for the hunter of the archangel pinning the demon against the wall with a smirk and the demon’s face going from shocked to terrified on a loop.

Sam shared the picture with his brother who laughed and said, “Nice.”

“So once he was good and rotted I showed myself to him…”

 

Flashback:

Gabriel appeared in front of Azazel and pinned him against the wall. “You really have no idea what you’ve done little demon,” he hissed in anger.

Azazel could tell that this was an angel. Probably Sam Winchester’s angel judging by his anger, but he wasn’t particularly worried since the room was suddenly filled with about ten of his minions. They would be more than a match for one little angel. “You really think I wasn’t expecting you?” he sneered at the angel.

Gabriel just threw a hand behind him instantly vaporizing all the extra demons without taking his eyes off Azazel. “I don’t think you have any idea who you were expecting,” he said with a smirk as the demon’s eyes widened. No angel should have that kind of power…unless…

Gabriel saw the moment that it registered on the demons face and his smirk widened. “You see little demon, I am going to greatly enjoy killing you, but I want you to know exactly who I am first,” he said as he projected the shadow of the archangel’s traditional six wings on the wall behind him. “I am the archangel of justice and you are sorely deserving of some of that,” he said just enjoying the look on the demon’s face for a moment before he snapped his fingers destroying what was left of the rotting body.

End Flashback

 

The hunters laughed again and Sam said, “A little harsher than your usual punishments, but fitting in this case. Nice one.”

Gabriel bowed theatrically. “So glad you approve Samsquatch.”

Dean snorted with glee at the nickname. He would hold that over his brother’s head forever. “Well on that note I’m going to go get drunk in celebration of the death of that monster. Coming Sammy?”

“Nah. Go ahead. You know I prefer to celebrate alone,” Sam said with a grin at his brother. Dean just shrugged and left. 

Gabriel just stepped right in front of Sam where he was sitting in the chair and ran a finger down the side of his face, leaving no question of what he was thinking. “Alone huh? Well I guess I should leave you to it…”

He was cut off when Sam pulled the archangel into his lap and crashed their lips together. Gabriel laughed into the kiss, even as their tongues began their dance. Gabriel just snapped his fingers and they were naked on the bed, still sitting, but Sam almost immediately fell over not expecting the change pulling Gabriel with him. 

Gabriel was glad he was going to get to enjoy Sam in a bed instead of a hard concrete floor…or wall…and with powers and without the threat of death. He definitely didn’t want to get into a habit of this and lead the hunter on, but once was okay surely. And maybe every now and then after this, he thought as he trailed his lips down Sam’s neck listening to all the pleasant noises he was making that were going straight to Gabriel’s cock as he rubbed their already dripping erections together. 

He kissed down Sam’s chest and stomach taking the hunter in his mouth as he slid a lubed finger past the tight wall of muscled. Sam’s hand tangled in Gabriel’s hair as he cried out in pleasure. Gabriel hummed in approval around Sam’s length and swallowed him all the way down drawing a gasping moan from him. He swallowed around the hunter as he inserted a second finger and Sam was obviously torn between thrusting up into the hot mouth or down on the fingers impaling him. 

Gabriel wasn’t going to be able to wait much longer with all the noises the hunter was making and quickly finished getting him ready before using his angelic strength to flip the hunter onto his stomach and then lifting his hips as Sam got his knees under him. As soon as the hunter was in position Gabriel rammed himself in and didn’t pause for a moment as he thrust hard and fast into a keening and moaning Sam. Gabriel’s hands kneaded Sam’s back and shoulders roughly before moving around to stroke the hunter in time with his furious thrusts. 

Sam cried his name as he spilled over the archangel’s hand and Gabriel’s hips stuttered his own release inside the hunter as Gabriel moaned. Once Gabriel had pulled out, Sam flipped back onto his back grinning. “Now that’s my idea of a celebration,” he said softly reaching out to place a hand on the side of Gabriel’s face. 

Gabriel didn’t let himself show his discomfort at the intimate gesture, and just leaned down for a hard kiss as he said, “You and me both kiddo,” and disappeared. 

Sam couldn’t really blame the archangel of course, but he had hoped to get some more time with him. He was glad that Gabriel was at least attempting to keep him from getting in any deeper and getting too comfortable with what would never be a relationship though. The fact was that as meaningless as the sex between them was to Gabriel, it meant everything to Sam and he would take what he could get and try to hold onto the fact that at one time there had been a version of the archangel that loved him just as much as he loved Gabriel.


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel had every intention of just going back to his life and forgetting all about the hunter, but it didn’t end up working that way, much to his annoyance. Most of the time he was able to keep Sam out of his head, but whenever that stupid little bond thing got more insistent it was more difficult. He could tell every time Sam was fighting something and despite him not being hurt badly enough for the bond to push him to go to the hunter, he still went anyway, completely invisible of course, out of curiosity.

He spent a great deal of that time trying to equate the strong warrior he was seeing with the man who had given Gabriel everything he had when he was hungry, and held him when he was cold and weak. He could see that man again in Sam’s handling of the victims affected by the monsters and demons he was hunting and it intrigued him. He idly wondered if this was how it started for his future self; this intrigued feeling and watching the hunter. That more than anything made him want to leave and pretend Sam never existed, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do so. He told himself that he could always change his mind and leave later. 

It was two months since he’d last seen the hunter when he popped in after Dean had left for a bar. He popped in invisible at first to see what Sam was up to before he revealed himself and he nearly burst out laughing when he did. Seemed the kid had realized that he had been one of the stars of Casa Erotica for a while and was watching one of his movies. At least he didn’t have his eyes closed this time Gabriel thought with a laugh and appeared directly next to Sam’s ear and purred, “You know it’s really better in person.” 

Sam jumped and scrambled for the remote. Thankfully he hadn’t been far enough in for it to be even more embarrassing as he was still fully clothed. As Sam knocked the remote off the bed and dived for it Gabriel couldn’t hold it in any longer and collapsed into helpless laughter holding his sides. “Gabriel! I was just…I mean…I wanted…” he could really form a thought at the moment.

Gabriel managed to say through his laughter. “Oh unclench Samsquatch. It’s porn. It’s meant to be watched. The look on your face though. Priceless,” he gasped out as his laughter took over again. 

Sam just huffed out an indignant breath and sat on the bed petulantly arms crossed waiting for Gabriel to regain control of himself. Sam realized it was a little silly for him to be so embarrassed about it. If Gabriel didn’t want it to be seen, he wouldn’t have made it and it’s not like he had never seen the archangel naked himself anyway, so he settled for being annoyed that Gabriel was laughing at him. 

Gabriel switched gears so quickly Sam nearly got whiplash. Once his laughing stopped he was standing directly in front of Sam running a seductive finger down his cheek, “So you like what you saw?”

Sam grabbed Gabriel’s hips and pulled him forward, looked up at him and said, “Most definitely.”

“I just had the most delicious idea,” Gabriel said playfully. 

“And what’s that?” Sam asked while sliding his thumbs under Gabriel’s shirt and teasing over the skin above the waistband of his jeans. 

“Hows about I snap up a girl and re-enact that little show in person and then you can watch or participate however you wish,” Gabriel said provocatively while playing with the buttons of Sam’s shirt. 

Sam didn’t want to betray his surprise at the suggestion so kept a smile on his face while they continued to tease at each other, barely touching at all while he thought about it. He had never had a threesome before, and he didn’t exactly have any interest in anyone except for Gabriel. It wouldn’t really be that much different from watching porn, except that he could jump in whenever he wanted. Gabriel obviously wanted this, so why not. “That could be fun,” Sam said with a smirk. 

Gabriel grinned and gave the hunter a little push backwards so he was leaned back on the bed, “Then sit back and enjoy the show Samsquatch,” he said with a wink. “and audience participation is encouraged,” he added with a waggle of his eyebrows as he snapped his fingers and the same girl from the video he had been watching appeared. Gabriel wasted no time grabbing her ass and pulling her tightly against him and kissing her. 

Sam had seen this part of the dvd, and didn’t think much would be different about watching it in person other than the fact that it was real, but it turned out that was exactly the problem. He wasn’t prepared at all for the stab of jealousy that shot through him watching the man he loved all over someone else. He was no fool. He knew that he wasn’t the archangel’s only dance partner, and he thought he was fine with that, but turns out knowing it and seeing it were two completely different things. 

He forced those thoughts out of his mind though because he had to admit it was pretty hot to watch, so he ignored the jealousy and let himself enjoy watching as Gabriel stripped them both out of their clothes and he practically tackled her on the bed, latching his mouth onto one of her large breasts as his hand kneaded the other one and she was crying out in pleasure. 

By the time Gabriel entered her, Sam’s pants were around his knees and he was stroking his cock and her noises increased and after watching him pound into her for a few minutes Sam couldn’t help himself anymore and stripped off his clothes the rest of the way, settled himself behind Gabriel and lined himself up so that on Gabriel’s next back thrust he impaled himself on Sam’s cock. Somewhere in the back of the hunter’s brain he processed that it was him who tore the first pleasurable moan from the archangel as Gabriel, hips still pumping straightened up and turned his head pulling Sam into a passionate kiss. Sam’s hands wandered over Gabriel’s chest and stomach during it, but Gabriel soon leaned back down over the girl. He just couldn’t get Sam as deep as he wanted him when he was upright like that. 

When Sam’s hand came forward and wrapped in Gabriel’s hair pulling sharply Gabriel slammed himself back harder meeting the hunter halfway as he gasped, “Fuck Sammy…more…” In response Sam started hammering himself furiously into the archangel keeping a good grip on his hair for leverage, while Gabriel matched his thrusts into the girl to Sam’s and they found a good rhythm. Sam’s roughness was definitely brought on by his jealousy, but apparently Gabriel liked it that way so Sam didn’t even try to tone it down. 

Gabriel had never been this turned on before, and he’d had more than his fair share of threesomes…and foursomes…and group orgies, but the way he was both dominating and being dominated was just so fucking hot and when he felt Sam explode inside him, he followed right behind spilling himself into the girl beneath him. Once he was spent, he just snapped his fingers and she disappeared leaving himself and Sam to fall into a heap on the bed panting heavily. 

“Damn Sammy. That was hot. We have got to do that again,” Gabriel gasped sprawled next to the hunter. 

“That was pretty hot, but do you mind if we don’t?” Sam asked trying to keep all trace of resentment out of his voice. 

“Why don’t you…oh,” and Gabriel got it. He had forgotten about Sam’s feelings for him and maybe he felt just a little bit guilty, not that he would admit it. And if that had anything to do with his curling up next to the hunter’s side and allowing Sam to cuddle him for a few moments…well it’s not like anyone would ever know. “Just to be clear, do you mean the extra or between us too?” Gabriel asked curiously.

“Just the extra,” Sam said blushing a bit. 

Gabriel chuckled. “So you want some more of my sweet ass huh Samsquatch?” he asked playfully.

“You better believe it,” Sam said with a grin throwing his own words from the warehouse back at him.

Gabriel let out a barking laugh and pulled the hunter in for a kiss. “Catch you later Sam-a-lam,” he said with a wink as he disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

It was two weeks later that Sam was jolted out of the middle of a dream into a new dreamscape. Once his brain caught up with the change he realized that it definitely wasn’t natural and brought him to mind of when Lucifer would play with his dreams and he looked around nervously. Instead of Lucifer though he saw Gabriel standing there watching him curiosly. “Gabriel? What are you doing in my dreams? You could just come by you know.”

“I’m not the Gabriel you know now. I’m the Gabriel that once was,” he said in a fake spooky voice waving his arms around dramatically and Sam laughed. Gabriel beamed at that. Sam had never laughed at his jokes before. Granted his jokes before were usually at his expense but still. “I don’t have much time kiddo. I kinda snuck away.”

“Snuck away from where? Sam asked still not completely processing what was happening. 

“Limbo. I’m there until the timeline catches back up to itself. Once it does, this version of me no longer exists and I go poof,” Gabriel said matter-of-factly. Truth is Gabriel could have snuck away for this visit anytime, but he was more than a little afraid of facing Sam after his confession of love that the hunter may or may not have watched.

It suddenly dawned on Sam that the Gabriel standing in front of him was the one that had loved him. The one that had sacrificed his life to give Sam time, that had given everything to help Sam fix the past. He had never thought that he would see that Gabriel again and reached the archangel in two steps and swept him into a profound kiss pouring every emotion he could into it. 

Gabriel flailed for half a second being caught totally off guard, before he raised a hand to Sam’s face melting into the kiss blissfully. If he had known that this would be his reaction, he would have come a long time ago he thought as their tongues danced together sweetly. When Sam pulled back and rested his forehead against the archangel’s Gabriel asked breathlessly, “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

“I love you Gabriel. I’m sorry I never told you or realized it in time to. I wish you had told me how you felt and maybe we could have had this before. God Gabriel. I’ve missed you so much,” Sam rambled. 

“I love you so much my Sammy,” he said pressing another short kiss to the hunter’s lips and Sam pulled him tighter moving to rest his head on Gabriel’s shoulder, as Gabriel did the same. Sam had never thought he would hear those words from the archangel again and just drank it in. Gabriel materialized a tree behind Sam and sat him down leaning against it and straddled his lap so they could talk more comfortably. Neither of them got anything sexual out of it. It was just a way for them to be close and hold each other. 

“So how are things going? Has the crisis been averted?” Gabriel asked while nuzzling against Sam’s neck, pressing the occasional feather light kiss against the soft skin. 

“Yeah. So far anyway. I don’t think they are going to give up, but Dean and I both know what not to do this time around so I doubt they’ll succeed,” Sam said softly running his hands over Gabriel’s back and through his hair. 

“Good. That’s good,” Gabriel said honestly. “And what about the other me? I’m guessing that he either knows or is very suspicious.”

Sam snorted. “I told him everything. He doesn’t like me very much despite the fact that he turns up for sex every once in a while,” Sam said indignantly. 

Gabriel let out a soft chuckle and placed another kiss to Sam’s neck. “He does like you Sammy. Probably more than he realizes. If he didn’t he wouldn’t sleep with you. Trust me.”

“He likes my body,” Sam grumbled nuzzling his own face into the archangel’s neck. 

“If that were the case he would just snap up a living Sam doll to have his way with and you would never know,” Gabriel said seriously. He really wanted to make Sam understand. It wouldn’t make a difference for this version of him, but he would like to be able to hold onto the idea that somewhere a version of him could be happy. “You said you told him everything,” Gabriel said questioningly. Sam nodded against Gabriel’s shoulder. “Including how I died for you?” he asked pointedly. Sam pulled back enough to look at Gabriel as his brows furrowed in thought. “Now that big brain of yours is working,” He said pleased. 

“So you’re saying he’s afraid to get too close and end up dying again?” Sam asked curiously.

Gabriel gave a sad smile. “Just as much as he’s afraid of finding something worth dying for again,” he said as his fingers tenderly brushed a lock of hair away from the hunter’s face tucking it behind his ear. “He’s spent so long running from anything that could make him vulnerable, and he won’t have you hitting him over the head with it this time around…at least I hope you know better than to trap him in a ring of holy fire and force him to bare his soul,” he said with a wry smile.

Sam gave a little chuckle and pressed his lips to Gabriel’s softly. “I would never do that to you again,” he promised as he moved his head back to Gabriel’s shoulder. 

“Good,” Gabriel murmured, going back to nestling against the hunter’s neck, “But that means you’ll just have to be patient and keep taking the first steps.” Gabriel paused for a moment before adding, “If you want him that is.”

Sam gave a harsh laugh. “This is all so confusing. I want you. But then he is you, just not exactly. I feel like I’m using him to replace you,” Sam said frustrated. 

Gabriel laughed softly. “Believe me, he is me. You two may have made me stand up for something, but you never changed who I am. The only difference between us is that the other me never tortured you or died for you. He’s not a replacement and you’re not betraying me by loving him. I want you to be happy. And I want some version of me out there to find happiness as well,” Gabriel said as he pulled back to look Sam in the eyes, wanting to make sure that there was no confusion. 

Sam hadn’t realized how much he needed to hear that until he did. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He leaned his forehead against Gabriel’s and gave a relieved sigh. “I love you Gabriel,” he whispered.

“I love you Sammy,” he said pressing a light kiss to the hunter’s lips. “And so will he if you are patient and give him a chance.”

“I will,” Sam promised. 

“Good,” Gabriel said kissing the end of Sam’s nose impishly. 

“So what? Did you come here just to give me relationship advice?” Sam asked amusedly. 

“That was kind of spur of the moment after I found out you loved me,” he said laughing. “I actually came to check in and make sure things were going well and that allowing the past to be changed had really worked.”

“How did you do that by the way? And how are you even here if you were dead in the future and don’t exist now?” Sam asked as his curiosity finally got the best of him.

“It’s pretty complicated but I’ll see if I can dumb it down for you,” Gabriel started and got smacked playfully on the arm which he just ignored with a grin. “Basically the reason the past can’t be changed is that everything that has happened will happen again without some sort of paradoxical anchor creating a crack in the timeline and holding it open, so to speak. Enter me!” he said throwing his arms out theatrically. “I haven’t actually died yet, hence the me being here, but this version of me doesn’t actually exist in this time, hence Limbo. My grace throwing you back here anchored me to this timeline and here we are.”

Sam blinked confused as he tried to wrap his head around all that. “That sort of makes sense. I think.” 

“Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll get a headache,” Gabriel said amused. 

“But once the timelines catch up then you…” Sam trailed off.

“Don’t worry about me Samsquatch. I was dead anyway. This way I get to see the chance for something better and have hope that I can be happy in a way,” Gabriel said sincerely. Sam pressed a desperate kiss to the archangel’s lips pulling him tightly against him. Gabriel gladly opened for him as their tongues tangled together. They broke for air but before Sam could go in for another kiss Gabriel stopped him. “I gotta go Sammy. I’ve been gone too long as it is,” he said sadly. Sam buried his head in the archangel’s neck as he shook it in denial. “I’m sorry my Samshine. I’ll try to check in again before time catches up, but I can’t make any promises. I love you.” 

He pulled back and pressed one last quick kiss to Sam’s lips and disappeared with a smile as he caught Sam’s whispered, “I love you too Gabriel. Always.”


	10. Chapter 10

Gabriel was still following Sam and watching. He hadn’t been seen by the hunter in more than a month. He had felt the urge to go back almost as soon as he left last time and he was trying to prove to himself that he could resist that urge. That he could still walk away. 

Sam was tied up and being tortured by four demons. He was led into this trap while Dean was investigating on the other side of town. They were mostly just beating him. They thankfully weren’t as skilled in the art of torture as Azazel was. 

Gabriel just stood there invisibly and watched, marveling at the hunter’s strength. He would interfere if it went too far obviously, but he wanted to see what Sam would do. Even he hadn’t noticed the tiny blade in Sam’s fingers as he cut through the ropes holding him without betraying his actions in any way to the demons beating him. Gabriel was just about to say enough and jump to his rescue when Sam suddenly broke through the bonds and took all four of them out in short order. 

Once they were all dead, he went over to the people that were tied up in the corner terrified and untied them, talking softly and assuring them that everything would be okay. It wasn’t until he had them all out safely and out of sight that he collapsed against the wall holding his ribs painfully as he called Dean to come pick him up. 

Gabriel was amazed at how fast Sam could go from ruthless warrior to concerned nurturer. He was even more amazed that Sam was able to hide his pain from the people that were captured. He didn’t realize it yet, but he was losing his battle against falling in love with the impressive hunter. 

Gabriel, like he often did after a tough fight, snuck into his room that night and healed him. It wouldn’t do to have him vulnerable to the next attack because of still healing injuries after all. He didn’t bother with bumps and bruises, but broken bones and internal injuries he healed. Sam wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly how he always woke up miraculously healed the morning after sustaining serious injuries, so tonight he just pretended to sleep. He missed the cranky archangel and wasn’t about to forget what the future Gabriel had said about being patient and persistent. 

He felt Gabriel’s hand on his forehead as his pain drained away and when Gabriel’s hand moved away Sam reached out quick as lighting and grabbed his wrist tightly. He knew that the archangel could easily break his grip anytime he wished so wasn’t worried about forcing him to stay against his will. “Thank you Gabriel,” he said softly rubbing his thumb over the back of Gabriel’s hand. 

Gabriel frowned at him. “Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked in consternation.

“Because I hoped you would come by and I missed you,” Sam said matter-of-factly. Gabriel shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t pull away from Sam’s grip. “Stay a little while?” Sam asked hopefully. He knew that if he pushed too much that Gabriel would disappear…maybe even for good, so made sure to keep the question as light as he could. 

Gabriel quickly recovered from his discomfort and leaned over Sam drawing a slow finger down his chest. “You gonna make it worth my while?” he asked suggestively. 

“Make sure Dean doesn’t wake up?” Sam asked glancing at his brother in the next bed.

Gabriel snapped his fingers with a smirk and Sam pulled the archangel on top of him and kissed him deeply, before rolling them over so that he was hovering over Gabriel. He was determined to take the reins this time and make it slow and sweet. He had been trying to avoid putting much emotion into it before, no knowing how Gabriel would take it, but future Gabriel’s words inspired him to do it now. 

As Sam’s mouth moved from Gabriel’s lips over his jawline and down to his neck giving gentle nips and sucks at the soft skin, Gabriel obviously had other ideas as he snapped his fingers removing all their clothes, but Sam wouldn’t be deterred and kept up his slow pace as his fingers teased at every inch of the archangel’s smooth skin he could reach. 

When Sam’s mouth latched on to the spot where Gabriel’s collarbone met his neck and sucked, Gabriel bucked his hips up adding beautiful friction against their cocks. Sam moved a hand up to Gabriel’s hair and gently pulled his head back and trailed soft kisses up the archangel’s throat before capturing his lips again. As he pulled back he caught Gabriel’s lower lip in his teeth, while tracing his thumb down Gabriel’s face, and once his lip was released over his lips. 

Gabriel had his hands on Sam’s ass grinding them together as Sam moved to the other side of the archangel’s neck. He moved a little faster this time, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever, and was soon trailing his lips over Gabriel’s chest. He stopped and flicked his tongue teasingly over his nipple and Gabriel arched his back with a moan as his fingers dug into Sam’s ass cheeks hard enough to leave bruises. Sam then wrapped his lips around Gabriel’s nipple and sucked while teasing it with his tongue drawing small needy whimpers from the archangel, before moving to the other side and doing the same. 

“Fuck Sammy. You’re killing me here,” Gabriel gasped out. 

Sam just smirked at him and continued with his slow pace down the archangel’s stomach caressing it with both hands as he went. He drew his tongue up the underside of Gabriel’s cock before giving a quick lapping lick to the tip tasting the pre-cum there before taking the keening archangel in his mouth. Gabriel’s hand twisted in Sam’s hair as he pressed the hunter’s head down forcing him to take him in all the way as the other hand pressed a tube of lube into the hunter’s hand. 

Sam wasted no time pressing a lubed finger into Gabriel and the archangel’s noises increased as he ground himself down on Sam’s finger. It was pretty quickly that Sam added a second finger and began pumping and working Gabriel open for him. Gabriel wanted to get some emotional distance, feeling a little overwhelmed with it, so when he was ready he swiftly flipped to his stomach and lifted his ass in the air. 

Sam just grinned. He had a plan for this eventuality too. He lined himself up and pressed in slowly. Once he was fully seated he reached down and pulled Gabriel up so that the archangel’s back was against his chest and he started rolling his hips as he ran his hands over Gabriel’s chest and stomach while kissing his neck and shoulders. He bit hit tongue against the loving words that threatened to spill from his mouth knowing that nothing would make Gabriel disappear faster so he contented himself with showing the evasive archangel how he felt with his lips and his hands. 

“Shit Sammy…faster…” Gabriel panted and Sam was starting to feel his own need increase as well so he complied as he started pulling himself out and thrusting back in, quickening his pace rapidly as his hand moved from Gabriel’s stomach to his cock and began pumping in time with his thrusts. 

Sam ran his tongue up the outside of Gabriel’s ear and whispered “Cum for me Gabriel,” and Gabriel came crying out Sam’s name as he pulled Sam over the edge with him. Sam, panting, continued peppering the archangel’s neck and shoulders with feather-light kisses as they both trembled in their release. 

It wasn’t long though before Gabriel snapped his fingers cleaning up and disappeared. Sam had expected that though and just laid on his back satisfied. He could tell he had cracked the wall that Gabriel kept up around his emotions. It would take time for him to get through, but he was making progress and that’s what was important.


	11. Chapter 11

Gabriel reappeared on the other side of the world. He really needed to get some distance. He had enjoyed himself greatly, but it was intense. Too intense. He was playing with fire and he knew it. So why the hell did he keep doing it? He knew exactly what the hunter was trying to do, but he had already died for Sam once. No way in hell was he going to risk it again. The next time he went to Sam they would do things his way or not at all. He didn’t even realize that the possibility of their not being a next time hadn’t entered his mind. That decided he was off to find some assholes in need of their just desserts. 

It was a couple days later that Sam remembered what was about to happen in Cicero Indiana with Dean’s maybe kid. Sam didn’t tell Dean about his suspicions about Ben’s paternity, just that Lisa had a son and that she said it wasn’t Dean’s and they made their way there. It took no time at all for them to find and kill the changeling and release all the kids. They got out of town quickly before people started panicking about their kids bursting into flames and then appearing back on their doorsteps. 

Unfortunately, he still had to touch the rabbit’s foot in order to get it away from the men who stole it, but he didn’t waste any time with the ritual to destroy it. He wasn’t going to give that evil bitch time to steal it back. Speaking of evil bitches, he realized that he would have already met Ruby by now in this timeline and took a moment to enjoy the fact that he was hunting to save lives and not trying to prevent his brother from being demon chow, or getting revenge, or averting an apocalypse. This was the way it was meant to be. The way it was supposed to be. 

Sam hadn’t expected to see Gabriel again anytime soon after their last encounter, and he had been right. It was almost three months before Gabriel popped in again, this time when both he and Dean were present and awake. He turned to Sam immediately and said, “You said Kali killed me before, well tried to kill me anyway.”

Sam was a bit taken aback at the abruptness of his appearance and his statement. “Um…yeah…Gabriel what’s…”

“Why? Was it just trying to help you escape or was there more to it?”

“I know she somehow found out who and what you really are. She used your death as a demonstration that archangel’s can die to rile up the other gods about going after Lucifer. That’s all I really know,” Sam said wondering why on earth the archangel would pop up out of the blue with these kinds of questions.

“Ok so tell me what you think then,” Gabriel said firmly, knowing that Sam was very observant and good at reading people and situations. 

“Ok well…I think that she felt betrayed when she found out that you weren’t who you said you were, but she obviously still cared about you. She had something to prove to you and to everyone else in the room…maybe even to herself. She didn’t trust you and saw you as a threat. Not an immediate one, but one that needed to be eliminated anyway.”

Well that answered Gabriel’s question about whether Sam knew that he and Kali had been together but it didn’t help him with his current conundrum. “Do you know how she found out?”

“I don’t. Sorry Gabriel. Might have something to do with your blood though. Apparently she found out or at least let on that she knew around the same time she did a blood binding spell on you. What is this all about?” Sam asked curiously.

“You don’t happen to know if I ever met with her or the other gods around this time period do you?” Gabriel didn’t hold up much hope for a positive answer here knowing from Sam’s stories that they didn’t have any contact during this time. 

“I have no idea,” Sam said with a shrug. “Do they want you to meet with them?”

“Yeah. I’ve received a summons and I have no idea what it’s about and knowing that she killed me…basically…makes me nervous.”

“Could they sense the time travel somehow? Maybe they figured out that you were behind it?” Sam asked. 

“I don’t know. Not likely,” Gabriel said deep in thought. “If they had sensed it then my brothers would have too and I would have heard about it.”

“Well just make sure you have a can of diet orange slice handy,” Sam said lips quirking into a smile. When Gabriel looked at him like he was nuts, Sam clarified, “That’s what you made a fake blade out of last time to escape.”

“Ah ok,” Gabriel considered his next action for a moment and hesitated but decided to trust the hunter with this. “Here,” Gabriel said handing over his real blade. “Hold on to this for me and for the love of all that’s holy keep it safe and hidden,” he said bitingly. As long as Sam had his blade it couldn’t be summoned by anyone except for him. Keeping it on him when there was a chance that it would be used against him would be foolish, but just dumping it somewhere would mean that anyone with access to him could summon it. By giving it to someone already for safekeeping he was protecting himself. “Lose it and I’ll kill you,” he added after a moment. 

“Gabriel,” Sam said taking the archangel’s hand. “Be careful. Please.”

“Obviously,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes as he disappeared. 

Once he was gone Dean turned to Sam. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked gesturing to the weapon in Sam’s hands.

“If you think it is the most powerful weapon on earth capable of killing everything except for God himself the yes it’s exactly what you think it is,” Sam said awed that Gabriel would entrust it to him. Even for a little while and determined not to break the archangel’s trust. 

“Wow,” Dean said with wide eyes. “Can I…” he started to reach for it but Sam snatched it away.

“Gabriel gave it to me for a reason. For all I know letting you touch it could have consequences, so I’m going to do exactly what he told me, and no one else will touch it,” Sam said.

“Oh come on Sam. What kind of consequences could me touching it have?”

“Archangel blades are bound to their owner Dean. Getting the blade from anyone but Gabriel could kill you or curse you in some way that I couldn’t even begin to understand,” Sam said impatiently.

“Then why was he so worried about someone else getting their hands on it?” Dean argued.

“I don’t know. Maybe because they would be getting it directly from him, willingly or not, or maybe it’s because they’re gods and resistant to the effects, or maybe nothing at all will happen, but I don’t feel like risking it. He told me to keep it safe, not the two of us…just me.”

“Fine,” Dean said crossing his arms petulantly as Sam went over, cut his mattress open and hid it inside before sewing the mattress back up with the same skill that he sewed his brother back up. 

Sam then grabbed a marker and began painting sigils on the wall, only half of them Dean had ever seen. “What the hell is all that?” he asked. 

“Demon wards, angel wards, witch wards…you name it,” Sam said steadily working. 

“You seriously learned all of this in three years?” Dean asked shocked. 

“We were highly motivated,” Sam said behind clenched teeth reminding himself that none of that had happened yet. 

“So how will Gabriel get back in if we are warded against angels?” Dean asked. 

“We aren’t warded against archangels. Honestly if any of the archangels actually leave heaven to come after us, we have much bigger problems than protecting Gabriel’s sword,” Sam said seriously.

Dean thought for a moment. “Okay, but say something uses a human to come steal it?” Dean was just as invested in protect it as Sam was. He didn’t want anything walking around with that kind of power.

“What human do you know that can take us out? And even if they do that’s the point of the hiding place. Anything supernatural might be able to sense it, but no human will ever find it,” Sam said smugly. He’d had a lot of experience that Dean didn’t in hiding things after all. 

 

Meanwhile in the summit of the gods: 

Gabriel strolled in like he owned the place and plopped into the nearest chair, not giving anyone the slightest hint that he was nervous. “Loki!” Odin said cheerfully. “Just the one we need to help us resolve our latest issue.”

“And what issue would that be and why should I care?” Gabriel drawled lazily. Actually being respectful and showing interest at one of these things would be extremely suspicious.

“Well I had a bit of a run in with some demons recently. Nasty creatures they are, but before I killed them they had a lot to say. Apparently there are some hunters that have an angel on their side. What do you say to that?” Odin asked carefully.

“That’s interesting, but why would I care what those winged ass monkeys are doing?” Gabriel said dismissively. 

“Ah but you see that’s not the most interesting part,” Odin said gleefully. “You may not care, but we thought it best to at least be informed of the situation,” he nodded to a group of the gods and before he knew it he was tied to the chair by Mercury, with Odin and Baron Samedi to either side and Kali advancing on him. 

Kali took over the interrogation. “So what do we find out but that you were working with the hunters, and that you were trapped by angelic wards that should not have worked on any of us, which begs the question,” she paused dramatically, “Who are you really?”

Gabriel tried to disappear but found himself trapped by wards. Of course they put up some wards before luring an angel into a trap, and by trying it he had tipped his hand. He cursed his stupidity, both for that and for coming here in the first place. “It’s not what you think,” he tried to explain.

“Oh so you’re not a spy?” Kali said disbelievingly. 

“No. I’m a runaway. I skipped out of heaven and hid as Loki,” Gabriel said hoping that they believed him but he could tell by their faces that they didn’t. 

“Even if you were telling the truth, which I know you’re not, what’s to stop you from eliminating us one by one now that we know your little secret? Besides you know a little too much about us for us to let you live,” Kali said moving close to him and running her hands down his body looking for his blade. She pulled it out and said, “I’m sorry,” as she stabbed him in the chest. He had enough access to his grace to make it seem like he died, but not enough to keep himself from being wounded and he waited until the room cleared and he snuck out past the warding and made it to his nearest home, not having the strength to go far, before he collapsed.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam and Dean had paid for an extra few days in the motel. There was no way they were going to expose Gabriel’s blade outside of the warding. They just hoped he came back for it soon. Sam didn’t leave the room at all, and Dean only left to go get food and supplies. Three days later found Sam pacing the room. “How long can a summit possibly take?” Dean asked him figuring that Sam knew more about that than he did, having actually been to one even if it was as a prisoner.

“Nowhere near this long. Hell if they can all be in the same room for an hour without coming to blows it’s a miracle,” Sam said anxiously. He hated this. Gabriel was probably out there somewhere hurt or trapped and he was completely powerless to do anything. He was so desperate he had even considered praying to Cas, but knew that would be stupid and reckless. Cas didn’t know them at all, and was still heaven’s perfect little soldier. He would surely go running right to his superiors with the knowledge that Gabriel was still alive and Sam knew that Gabriel would rather be dead. 

Sam contented himself with the fact that the only weapon that could possibly kill the archangel was in his possession and the chances of any of the gods pulling another archangel into this were pretty much zero, so his only worries were hurt or trapped. Then his mind went back to the last time the archangel was trapped and got an ice cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. If they knew those same sigils…Sam forced his mind away from that idea. Gabriel wasn’t dead. He refused to consider the possibility. 

The next day found Sam researching anything and everything he could on the gods. He started with the ones he knew had been at the summit in the previous timeline figuring it was a pretty good bet that at least some of them were involved with this one too. Gabriel had implied that Kali would be at least with his questions. He was looking for any way to find them. It spoke for how far gone he was that he was even considering finding a secure location, far from the blade, and summoning one of them and demanding answers. 

Dean talked him down from that ledge though. For now, but he was getting more agitated by the hour, which made him horribly snippy, which kept setting Dean off and finally, a week after Gabriel had left, Dean got fed up and walked across the street to the bar telling Sam to call him if he needed him. 

The next night just before Dean was about to head out again sick of Sam’s gripping, Gabriel arrived, obviously hurt, but standing on his own two feet at least. “Gabriel!” Sam yelled as he ran over to him and started fussing over him looking for injuries.

Gabriel batted his hands away long before he got near the wound on his chest saying indignantly, “Would you quit it you big idiot.”

“Sorry. Just…are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?” he asked in a rush.

“I’m fine. I was hurt and healing, and they found out and tried to kill me, now where is it?” Gabriel asked insistently. 

Sam stepped back and looked at the archangel appraisingly. “How do I know you’re you?” he asked suspiciously. 

Gabriel huffed out an annoyed breath. He was glad that Sam wasn’t taking any chances and was being smart, but having to prove himself to get his own damn sword back was beyond annoying so he set out to embarrass the hunter with his answer. “When we were trapped in the warehouse, we had sex. Twice. Because I didn’t want to die without getting laid again. That enough proof for you big guy?”

Sam winced as Dean said exasperatedly, “I so didn’t need to know that.” 

“My blade please,” Gabriel said insistently. 

Sam hesitated. They could have tortured that information out of him before impersonating him. He needed to ask something that Gabriel would never tell anyone, even under torture. “How did Dean and I successfully trap you and when?” Gabriel would never tell anyone about a weakness of his, and he doubted he would tell anyone about the time travel aspect of their relationship because it would make him just as vulnerable. 

“Holy fire, and you haven’t yet, and if you ever do I’ll kill you both. Now will you just give me my damn blade already.”

Sam nodded and turned to the bed pulling his knife and cutting the mattress back open retrieving the blade and handing it to the archangel, who seemed relieved to have it back in his hands. 

“And on that note I’m going out now that everything is handled.” Between Sam’s irritableness over the last week and Gabriel seeming to be in a mood as well Dean was pretty much strung out. Not to mention that Dean wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that Sam had slept with an archangel. One that he was in love with at that, and so decided to drown the worry rather than obsess over it. 

Once Gabriel had the sword back in his hands he caressed it lovingly before looking around. “Nice warding by the way.” It seemed that his mood completely changed once he got his blade back in his hands and had confirmation that the hunters hadn’t lost it or allowed it to be stolen or melted it into bullets or anything else they could have stupidly done to it. 

“Yeah well, you basically handed me the most powerful weapon on the planet. I wasn’t taking any chances,” Sam said wryly. 

“What made you think to make sure I was really me?” Gabriel asked curiously. 

“I’ve seen demons take over another demons meatsuit to impersonate them. I didn’t know if the same thing was possibly for angels, but I wanted to be sure. Not to mention the chances of any kind of shapeshifter,” Sam said with a shrug. 

“I can see why you’re such a good hunter,” Gabriel said impressed in spite of himself.

“Why Gabriel? Was that a compliment?” Sam asked amusedly. 

“Don’t let it go to your head kid. I could still wipe the floor with you in a second,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes. 

“Well I think I’ll wait until you aren’t about to collapse before I make you prove that,” Sam said with a laugh. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the hunter who rolled his in response. “Come on Gabe. You have been sitting still since you got here. You never sit still. Hell you rarely sit period.”

“Have I mentioned before that I really don’t like that you know me so well?” Gabriel grumbled. 

“Yup,” Sam said smugly. “Now are you going to lie down and rest or do I have to make you?” Gabriel glared at the hunter and made to stand shakily, just increasing his glare as Sam reached out to steady him. He shook the hunter off and made his way to the nearest bed which thankfully was Sam’s and collapsed into it with a wince. Once he was settled Sam placed a hand on his arm and asked softly, “Is there anything I can do?”

“Not unless you can go back to the future and give me the rest of my power back,” Gabriel snapped at him. He had almost gotten used to being weaker than usual, except in situations like this. 

“I’m sorry Gabriel,” Sam said sadly. 

“Oh cry me a river. Not like it’s your fault,” he said derisively. 

Sam forced himself not to react to the tetchy archangel’s tone. He knew that it was just because Gabriel hated showing weakness. “Is there any way I could…I don’t know…give it back or something?”

“Nope. Doesn’t work that way kid. Only way you could give me power is from your soul and I don’t have enough control in my weakened state to reach into you for it so don’t even ask,” Gabriel said firmly. 

“Is there any other way you could pull power from my soul?” Sam asked curiously. There had to be more than one way. 

“Nothing you’d accept,” Gabriel said. 

“Try me,” Sam challenged. 

“Let me possess you,” Gabriel shot back. He knew how hard Sam fought against anything taking control of him. During his story about the future he had more than once expressed his utter disgust at the idea of being an ‘angel condom’ as he put it. 

Gabriel was therefore completely shocked when Sam just looked at him and said, “Yes.”

“What?” he asked gob smacked.

“That’s the word you need right? I’m saying yes,” Sam said lips quirking at the expression on Gabriel’s face. 

“How do you know I won’t take advantage of it? You won’t have any control over anything I say or do Sam,” Gabriel warned. 

“I know. How many times do I have to tell you that I trust you before you believe it?” he asked wryly. 

Gabriel blinked at him for a moment. Trust was one thing, but this was way beyond simple trust. Way beyond anything he ever expected from the hunter. “Are you sure Sam?”

Sam looked Gabriel directly in the eyes and said a firm, “Yes.”

“Ok. You might want to lay down for this. It can be a bit jarring.” Once Sam complied Gabriel poured out of his own body and into Sam’s. He sat up slowly. He could already feel himself getting stronger.


	13. Chapter 13

Dean stumbled in a few hours later to find his brother watching TV while Gabriel was passed out on the bed. “Dude I thought you’d be asleep by now,” Dean said. 

Gabriel briefly considered pretending to be Sam and trying to get some dirt, but Sam’s words echoed in his head about trusting him and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Damn hunter probably knew that when he said it. “I’m not Sammy, Deano. He was kind enough to allow me to use his body to recharge.”

“What the…the hell he would! Get out of my brother!”

“I’m sure he’s mentioned that angels have to have permission to enter a vessel. Thus the very fact that I’m here proves I had permission,” Gabriel said smugly. 

“So what. You decided to go for an upgrade to hide in now that all your little friends want you dead?” Dean asked heatedly. 

“No way Deano. Not that I don’t greatly enjoy Sam’s body, but I’d rather enjoy it from the outside…mostly,” he said suggestively. 

Dean was too drunk for this so he let that comment pass and just said, “Then get out of him.”

“I have every intention of going back to my own body once I’m healed up,” Gabriel said dismissively. 

“Which will be when?” Dean spat.

“Sammy’s pretty strong, so probably tomorrow,” he said with a shrug. 

“Then we’ll deal with this tomorrow,” Dean said heatedly as he promptly fell in his bed and passed out. 

Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle. He loved riling up the older Winchester. It was just so much fun. 

The next morning when Dean woke up the first thing he said was, “It’s tomorrow now. Out.”

“I told you Deano. As soon as I’m strong enough. Not quite there yet.”

Dean huffed and sat down. He was much calmer about it now that he was sober and he knew that his brother would gladly jump at any chance to help the archangel out, and after everything that Gabriel had done for him he couldn’t exactly fault him for it. He just didn’t like the idea of someone else traipsing around with Sam’s skin. “So why do you need him to recharge anyway?”

“A human soul is an incredible power source.”

“Then why couldn’t you use your vessels soul?” Dean asked petulantly. 

“Because it doesn’t have one,” Gabriel said with a shrug. When Dean looked at him suspiciously he said, “I made that vessel myself. It was never human.”

Dean snorted. “Why would you make such a short vessel?” he asked laughing.

Gabriel huffed and said indignantly, “I’ll have you know that when I made that vessel I was considered extremely tall. How was I supposed to know that humans would evolve into giants?”

Dean just laughed harder at that. “Well I’m going out for breakfast. I’ll be back.”

“Hey grab me a pie would you? Actually make that three pies,” Gabriel called after him.

“You gonna pay for them?” Dean asked sarcastically.

Gabriel reached into Sam’s pocket for his wallet. “I mean with your money, not my brothers jackass.”

“Please. Once I’m back to health I can snap up a fortune if I wanted to. I can easily pay you back for some pie,” Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

Dean wasn’t particularly trying to be difficult. If Gabriel had asked for a piece of pie, he would have gladly obliged. Hell he might have even sprung for a while pie, but three? “Fine,” Dean said. He would take it out of his brother if the archangel stiffed him though. “What kind of pie?”

“Chocolate.” 

“Dude there are like a hundred kinds of chocolate pie,” Dean said impatiently.

“Surprise me,” Gabriel said turning back to the television. It’s not like there was anything else to do without wasting his powers. He had risked a little to get them full cable though. There was no way he was going to be stuck watching ten crappy channels while he was stuck here. 

Dean arrived back an hour later and handed Gabriel his pies and the archangel ripped one open and dug in. He finished the whole thing in ten minutes and moved on to the next one. “Dude, Sammy’s gonna rip you a new one for putting all that sugar in his body,” Dean warned him.

“Oh please. This body will be just as pristine as ever when he gets it back,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes. 

“Whatever you say.” Dean dropped it as he sat down next to Gabriel/Sam to watch the tv with him until lunch. 

After lunch Gabriel said, “Ok I’m headed back to my own body now. You might want to cover your eyes. It’ll get a little bright.”

“Good,” Dean said. 

Gabriel went over and laid down on the bed next to his body and closed his eyes, but nothing happened. He huffed and tried a little harder, but it didn’t work. He was stuck. “Damnit!” he said getting up and pacing. 

“What?” Dean asked.

“I’m stuck!”

“I knew it! I knew you were just trying to hitch a new body,” Dean said angrily. 

“You think I want this? This is a disaster!” Gabriel yelled. 

“Oh yeah? Why?” Dean asked suspiciously. 

“Do you know why I made my own vessel? Because humans housing angels can be tracked. The only reason I agreed to this was because I could stay in this nice warded room for a day, but now…” Gabriel trailed off.

“What are you saying?” 

“I’m saying…that if I walk out of this room in this body I…and Sam along with me…will have a huge target on my back. Every angel in creation will be able to sense me and every other supernatural creature will be able to spot me a mile away. Hence the disaster part!” Gabriel ranted. 

Dean calmed down slightly. At least he knew Gabriel wasn’t doing it on purpose. “How could this happen?”

“I don’t know. It shouldn’t be possible,” Gabriel said still pacing.

“Well obviously it is,” Dean said.

“Would you just shut up and let me think,” Gabriel said frustrated. 

 

An hour later:

“Anything yet?”

“I swear to my father Dean if you ask me that one more time…” Gabriel growled at the hunter before he stopped in his tracks. “Wait a minute…”

“What?” Dean asked hopefully.

Gabriel just held up a finger. He had a train of thought that he didn’t want to interrupt. That had to be it. “My grace. When future me flung Sammy back here some of my grace attached to him. That must be what’s holding me here.”

“Ok so how do we fix it?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know yet. It’s not like anything remotely like this has ever been done before, but at least I know what the problem is. That gives me someplace to start,” Gabriel said sitting down and thinking. Splitting grace was a nasty prospect. It would leave a wound that would spill grace until he died. That’s probably why future him did it. He knew he was going to die anyway, but he wasn’t dying and he had no intention to thank you very much. “Ok I need to go into a trance to examine my grace. I need to see if it’s completely fused with the piece left in Sam.”

“And if it has?” Dean asked nervously. 

“Then either we stay like this until the timeline catches back up or one of us dies so cross your fingers hmm?” 

“What? Why?”

“Because if it has fused then pulling it all away will kill Sam since it’s the only thing holding him in this time period and without it he will be a paradox. Splitting it again to leave some inside Sam will kill me.”

“Then how did the other Gabriel split it?” Dean asked confused, determined that they find a way. 

“It takes a week or so to die from that. He was already walking to his death. He had nothing to lose,” Gabriel said as he lay back down and closed his eyes again not giving Dean a chance to respond before he delved into himself. 

It was three hours before Gabriel regained consciousness and immediately said, “Fuck!”

Dean closed his eyes in frustration. He knew that there was nothing to be done. He couldn’t let Sam die and Sam would kill him if he let Gabriel die. “So I’m stuck with you in Sam’s body?”

“No not that. The graces have barely fused together at all. Simple to break with no damage.”

“Then why haven’t you done it?” Dean cut him off.

“Because there’s more than that. Sam’s subconscious won’t let me go,” Gabriel said tiredly.

“What does that mean?” 

“It means that I’ll have to dig through Sammy’s mind and convince him to let go,” Gabriel said pinching the bridge of his nose. This would be a huge breach of privacy and he was sure he would see a lot of stuff he didn’t want to see not to mention the risk of Sam glimpsing into his mind while he was there. 

“Is that dangerous?” Dean asked warily.

“Just to my sanity,” Gabriel said wryly. 

Dean snorted, “What sanity?”

Gabriel couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Exactly. I can’t exactly afford to lose the little I have.” 

Dean laughed relieved that at least it could be fixed.


	14. Chapter 14

“Well what are you waiting for?” Dean asked impatiently as Gabriel just sat there. 

“Sam’s mind is going to fight back. If my own mind is a scattered mess from the jump it will just be pure chaos in there and take forever,” Gabriel said annoyed.

“Why would his mind fight back if his mind is holding you there?” Dean asked confused.

“When you pick up a girl at a bar you hold her body but do you really want her digging around in your mind?” 

“Point,” Dean said with a shudder. “So what you just go in there and annoy him so much he lets you go?”

Gabriel snorted, “Well that’s one way to do it I suppose, but not very reliable I’m afraid.” Not to mention that it would be digging around intentionally looking for things that Sam didn’t want him to see and he probably didn’t want to see either. He was sure he would see some things that Sam didn’t want him to see anyway, but that couldn’t be helped. “No I go in and search for Sam’s consciousness. Once I find him I get him to let go.”

“How will you find him?” Dean asked. This whole thing was very intriguing to him even if he would shy against the same treatment, but this was Sam’s own fault anyway so he didn’t have to feel guilty for being interested. 

“I’ll have to figure it out as I go. The human mind is a very complex thing and no two are alike. Not like I can make a roadmap,” Gabriel said as he laid down next to his own body again. His mind was as calm as it was going to get, which really wasn’t saying much, but he had to work with what he had. 

Gabriel entered Sam’s mind to find a library. Gabriel chuckled. He should have known. But how would this work? He looked around for a moment. None of the books had any titles that could guide him. Maybe there would be something in them he thought as he grabbed a book off the shelf. As he did the shelf slid away revealing a doorway. Gabriel shrugged and stepped through only to be faced with a homicidal clown. Before the clown got close he was thrown back into his own mind and woke in Sam’s body.

“Well that was different,” he said blinking. 

“What happened?” Dean asked.

“Apparently I poked a clown,” Gabriel said wryly. Dean laughed heartily. “How does a guy who faces monsters every day have a fear of clowns of all things?” Gabriel asked perplexed.

“That’s the same question I have asked myself for years,” Dean said through his laughter. 

“Well let’s see if that annoyed him enough to let me go,” Gabriel said closing his eyes again. He doubted it, but it was worth a try. As he expected though nothing happened. “Nope. Going back into the mad house then.”

Gabriel appeared back in the same library. There was no other way to do this than keep grabbing books and looking for a pattern. He moved on to the next shelf and grabbed a random book, stepping through the doorway that presented itself. He saw a nine-year-old Sammy sitting on his bed, knees to his chest crying. 

“What’s your problem?” John Winchester asked as he came in the room. 

Sam sniffled, “I don’t want any monsters to get under my bed,” he said heartbreakingly. 

Gabriel watched as the old hunter dropped a gun on the bed in front of the little boy and said, “Man up,” as he walked off. Gabriel’s jaw dropped. He was pretty far from father material himself, but even he would never treat any child like that, much less his own child. He found himself wishing that John Winchester were still alive so that he could teach him a lesson. 

Once that scene was over the room moved into a new scene. Another crappy motel room and this time a Shtriga was leaning over Sam sucking out his life-force. Gabriel just watched ignoring the rather helpless feeling he felt. Obviously it turned out okay. Sam was all grown up now and perfectly fine.   
He watched as a slightly older Dean came into the room with a gun ready to defend his little brother, and Gabriel found himself waking again. Gabriel was fuming. What kind of mouth breathing moron takes his kids anywhere near a shtriga hunt? And then leaves them alone to fend for themselves? 

“What now?” Dean asked. 

“I swear Deano. If your father were still alive he would definitely be on my list for some payback,” Gabriel said through clenched teeth. Dean wasn’t sure he wanted to know what Gabriel had seen so didn’t ask and the archangel took a few deep breaths to calm himself before trying again to leave his body. As expected it still didn’t work, so Gabriel popped back into Sam’s mind’s library. 

He was a smart guy. He had two points of reference. He should be able to at least begin to decipher a pattern from that. Get a clue where to go next. Sam was holding onto him, which means that Sam would likely be found within memories of him. He just had to figure out how to get there. He studied the two books he had already pulled. The first one where he had faced the murderous clown was a deep black. The second one was almost black, but a bit lighter. 

Ok so black was bad memories. He looked around seeing books in all varying shades of grey all the way up to white. He would assume that white was good memories. He would start there. He tried not to notice how few of the white books there were as he grabbed one at random and stepped through the door. He saw Sam at what looked like a college campus being introduced to a pretty blonde girl name Jessica. He watched through a few scene changes before he noticed that this book seemed to be following their relationship so he would find Sam here and he walked back out the door and tried another book. 

This one was a series of memories of Dean. Apparently his happiest. He walked back out that door too. He had tried all of the white books and was getting discouraged. Sam supposedly loved him right? So why wouldn’t he be a happy memory? Gabriel thought for a moment and nearly slapped himself in the head when it came to him. Sure Sam loved him, but he didn’t love Sam back. Not to mention they apparently had a rather tumultuous past in the previous timeline. Sam’s memories of him were probably much murkier.

He looked around and groaned. Trying to figure out exactly what shade of grey their relationship represented to Sam would be a nightmare. He might as well start in the middle and try to figure out a direction from there. He grabbed a random book and stepped through the door finding Sam in the middle of a heated argument with his father about going to college ending with John saying, “If you walk out that door don’t you ever come back.”

Gabriel reiterated his thoughts of payback on the old hunter. What kind of parent punishes his child for achieving something great? It wasn’t what he was looking for though so he stepped back out and thought about it. He had to figure out what these memories meant for Sam if he was going to figure out where to go next. Obviously that was a bad memory being a fight and all, but there was apparently something good about it too or the book would be much darker. Maybe the prospect of freedom? Escaping from his overbearing father? That still seemed more bittersweet than happy. He would guess the memories of him were a bit brighter.

He moved to the halfway point between there and the white books and grabbed another at random. He saw his baby brother Castiel working with the hunters. He watched a few more to try and get a handle on the tone and saw Castiel begin to fall as he was cut off from heaven after choosing the hunters. He snorted. Just how many angels did these muttonheads destroy? He walked back out the door and calmed himself, forcing himself to look at it objectively and not just see his baby brother’s sacrifice. Sam would have seen someone sacrificing for him. To help him and save him. He was suddenly sure he was in the right area. 

He grabbed another book from the same shelf and stepped through to find that he was right. He was in their first first meeting. He watched them chat amicably as the hunter made a show of surreptitiously pulling information out of him and Gabriel made a show of reluctantly allowing it. He laughed along with the tricks he played on the boys to get them to turn on each other. He could see that his other self was impressed with the trick they managed to pull on him with their little fight, but Gabriel wasn’t. He knew how wily those two could be. But apparently not very smart if they didn’t figure out that a couple porn stars and chainsaw killers were just child’s play to him and that he let them ‘kill’ him. 

The next memory he had was of the mystery spot situation that Sam had told him about. He spotted himself immediately despite the disguise of course, but he watched Sam stumble through over a hundred Tuesdays and not figure it out. He was very impressed with the kid’s determination though. He never gave up. He should have taken a day off every once in a while. Just let things happen and not stress over it since it would be undone the next day, but he never stopped fighting to save his brother. 

Gabriel spotted the discrepancy as soon as he walked in that last morning and groaned at his other self’s recklessness. He knew Sam well enough to know that, especially when he was on high alert like this, he would spot any tiny discrepancy. And sure enough, he did. The next morning, he watched as Sam had his other self pinned against the fence with a stake to his neck. He just shook his head as he watched himself taunt the hunter before he disappeared. 

Gabriel knew what was coming next and didn’t exactly relish it as he watched Dean die on Wednesday and Sam go into a completely obsessed frenzy. He had heard Sam’s theory that Gabriel had been leaving him bread crumbs to follow to keep him interested in the chase, but watching he could see that they were very few and far between. He could easily discern what his other self had intended to do and what was accidental, and Sam was just a damn good tracker. There were only a few times that Gabriel had to double back and drop a hint. 

He had been very curious about the whole story of Sam’s breakdown at the end of this since the hunter had first mentioned it. He was certain that the hunter had downplayed it, but he hadn’t realized just how much until he saw it for himself. Sam had definitely downplayed how much of an asshole Gabriel had been, but he had also downplayed his own reaction. Gabriel watched the hunter beg his other self for mercy with tears rolling down his cheeks and felt cold. How could he ignore that? Gabriel could see the moment that his other self had softened and could tell when he became nearly as desperate as the hunter to get his point across, and the utter and complete frustration when he failed and stormed out. 

The scene shifted again and he watched himself get shoved into a wall by Dean this time. He heard himself say proudly, “You’re getting better!” and he realized that there was more to this than he had thought. His interest had gone beyond just curiosity and avoiding destiny. He remembered that Sam had told him by this point Lucifer was already free and he realized that his other self was trying to train them. He smirked at the look on Dean’s face when he showed a small portion of his own strength and twisted his arm away effortlessly. 

He saw the softness on Sam’s face as he asked Gabriel’s other self for help and the momentary indecision in Gabriel’s before he ignored it. The current Gabriel snorted derisively. The fact that his other self had even considered for a second getting involved in the apocalypse showed how far gone he already was. He followed Sam along with the different tv shows they went through and laughed at most of them, though the nutcracker made him cringe and wonder what his other self had been thinking. As he watched the confrontation on the sitcom set, he could spot the exact moment that Sam became suspicious, and he had to admit that his future self’s loss of control was pretty telling. 

The next scene was the one he was most interested in. He wanted to know how much the hunters had made him spill when he was at their mercy so when he appeared in the car and didn’t see Sam anywhere he had a feeling that Sam was the car and wondered idly how many different ways he would end up being inside the hunter before he was pulled from his thoughts as Dean came out. He listened to them figure out that he was probably an angel and watched them set up the holy oil that he stupidly walked right into. Not that he could blame himself really. He had watched them do it and could barely tell where it was. 

He rolled his eyes when his other self tried to convince the brothers that they were crazy. Those two were like a dog with a bone and they had him dead to rights. He watched himself spill his guts to the hunters and had to admit that Sam hadn’t actually lied. They hadn’t gone into any topics except the apocalypse and why he was hiding and interested in them. There was a lot more they could have gotten that could be a lot more damaging. Dean’s speech at the end hit him hard though. Both versions of him. The current Gabriel was suddenly glad he would never be in this situation and wondered if maybe that was the reason he had done this. To save himself instead of the hunter, but then he saw the apologetic look that Sam cast back as he was walking out and the longing look on his other self’s face and sighed. He had hope for a moment at least. 

Gabriel could see the well-disguised concern in his other self’s eyes as he talked to them at Elysian Fields trying to get them out. He watched with narrowed eyes as Kali ‘killed’ him in a scene eerily similar to the one that got them into this mess in the first place. And he could see the barely disguised fear as he popped in to face Lucifer and the way it turned to steely determination as soon as he looked at Sam. He saw the dvd pressed into Dean’s hands and hoped he would get to see that too. He watched in awe as his other self threw Lucifer back and stepped out unwaveringly to meet him. He caught the momentary disgust in his eyes that he quickly pushed away as he helped Kali up and called to the hunter’s to get her out of there. The look that his other self shared with Sam as they walked out the door seemed to be trying to communicate everything they felt in that one short moment, and he could see Sam hesitate not wanting to leave, but did so when Gabriel’s look hardened a fraction. 

He heard Sam argue with Dean about going back and Dean refusing. He saw them watch the first part of the dvd and shut it off when he started shedding clothes and laughed at the looks on their faces. And suddenly he was with Sam watching it again alone. He saw the interest when Gabriel removed his shirt and laughed as Sam closed his eyes shortly after that. The hunter wasn’t lying about that after all. He watched his final message to the hunter and saw the shock in Sam’s eyes at his confession of love, followed by thoughtfulness and he could see where Sam realized that he loved Gabriel too as he re-watched it. He saw Sam take out the dvd and break it and he was suddenly transferred into a scene he recognized.


	15. Chapter 15

Gabriel watched the scene as they met this time around with fresh eyes and could see the relief on Sam’s face when he saw him and could tell that he was holding him for more than just keeping him upright. He laughed as Sam bantered with him and winced when he slammed Sam into the wall. He hadn’t noticed Sam wave Dean off before and was taken aback at how much the hunter had trusted him. He couldn’t help but laugh again at the look on his face when Sam kissed him. He was pleasantly surprised when the next scene he saw was of the hunter in the shower stroking himself. Gabriel knew that this book was supposed to be all about him and surmised that the hunter must be thinking about him. He was proven right as his name fell from the hunter’s lips as he came. He wondered for a moment if this scene was somehow on repeat, but he spotted the small differences in the showers as he became more and more turned on by this and was soon rubbing himself through his pants. 

His erection immediately disappeared as he saw Sam tied up with Azazel trying to force him to call Gabriel. Gabriel reached out to heal the hunter many times before remembering that this was just a memory. He couldn’t do anything but watch as Sam steadfastly refused to even admit the existence of an angel and Gabriel was in awe over how much the hunter was willing to take to protect him. Seeing the aftermath was nothing compared to seeing it in action. He saw himself appear and manage to heal Sam before the wards were activated and couldn’t help but feel thankful for that at least. The situation would have been even more unbearable with a dead or dying Sam to take care of when he couldn’t even take care of himself. 

He saw Sam watch his tantrum indulgently and listened with half an ear as Sam told him the story of everything that happened between them in the previous timeline. Not only had he already heard the story, but now he had seen everything for himself too so he just wished there was a fast-forward button for this part. He tuned back in as he began coming onto Sam. He started getting hard again just knowing he was going to get to watch this time. By the time clothes were off his pants were undone and he was stroking himself lazily. He didn’t exactly want this to end yet knowing there was more coming, but he couldn’t help but touch himself. He was glad of the time skip while they were sleeping and again wished he could fast-forward through his frustrated pacing. He had lost his erection again, but hadn’t bothered doing his pants back up. 

His erection came back with a vengeance when Sam pinned him against the wall and when the hunter dropped to his knees in front of him and started sucking him off and his fingers had gone to Gabriel’s mouth his hand picked up the pace as he watched transfixed. When Sam lifted his leg and started prepping him he moaned along with the memory of Gabriel and by the time Sam slammed himself into him he was coming over his hand. Fuck if watching wasn’t almost as hot as doing. 

He watched again as Sam tried to give him everything he had and then Sam’s worry when he went unresponsive. He ignored the warmth he felt as Sam held him and saw Sam hand him over to his brother the second it was possible and order him to take him away. Sam had actually let himself be left alone and trapped to try to take care of Gabriel. He saw Sam run into the motel room and immediately wrap him in blankets and check his skin temperature and then admit to his brother that he loved him. He rolled his eyes at his own subconscious as he rolled towards Sam when he got into bed. 

He saw the hunter’s disappointment when he woke alone followed by pure lust on Sam’s face as he came out the next morning in a towel. He scowled when Dean called him a pixie which only increased at the explanation. He would show the hunter a pixie. He watched himself explain the death of the demon before he took the hunter again, his own cock twitching appreciatively. 

He laughed just as hard as he did the first time when he popped in on Sam watching his porn, but this time he could see the jealousy on the hunter’s face as he got it on with the busty blonde, but he most definitely enjoyed the hunter’s reaction just as much this time around. He briefly wondered if it would be worth pissing the hunter off again just to get him to fuck him like that again. 

He was really enjoying this trip down memory lane but was soon confused as he saw a scene he definitely didn’t remember. So far everything had been in chronological order but this hadn’t happened. When he said that he was the Gabriel from the other timeline, the current Gabriel’s attention immediately focused on it. He hadn’t even realized this was possible. He watched as Sam pulled the other him into a kiss and the way he returned it like it was pure ecstasy. He saw himself beam as Sam told him that he loved him and happily return the sentiment. 

He watched as he settled into the hunter’s lap and they just held and enjoyed each other and he felt a brief stab of something he couldn’t quite place as he saw the ease and comfort of their interactions. When the other Gabriel asked Sam about him Gabriel found that he was just as interested in the answer. He felt a stab of regret when he heard the sadness in Sam’s voice when he said that Gabriel didn’t like him very much and was a little surprised that he had so freely admitted that they were sleeping together. 

He was annoyed at himself for revealing so much to the hunter about his thoughts and fears and couldn’t help but wonder if the other him was right. He put it out of his head to be considered later…maybe. And then he heard the hunter voice everything that he had been wondering from the beginning about whether he was just a replacement for the Gabriel that Sam had lost. It seemed that Gabriel had needed to hear the words his other self said just as much as the hunter did. He completely dismissed the idea of him coming to love the hunter. At least he knew where that last encounter they had had come from with all the love the hunter put into it. 

He marveled at his own genius as the other Gabriel explained how he had made all this possible. Unlike the hunter he could fill in the blanks and knew it wasn’t anywhere near as simple as his other self made it sound. He scoffed though as his other self was so blasé about sacrificing himself once again. As the other Gabriel disappeared and the scene changed he couldn’t help but wonder if there had been another visit or if there would be. 

The next scene was one he recognized and he could easily see where the other Gabriel’s words had urged him on as Sam made love to him, because there was no other word for what the hunter was doing. Gabriel’s cock was hard again watching it, but he ignored it. When Sam whispered in his ear at the end though he couldn’t help the whimper that escaped as his cock twitched.

When they reached the scene where he had interrogated Sam about the gods, he paid little attention until after he left. He couldn’t help the pride and warmth he felt when Sam refused to let Dean even touch Gabriel’s blade. It wouldn’t have done anything to the other hunter, but that didn’t mean he wanted people pawing at it either. It was like an extension of his grace after all, which was why he felt somewhat comfortable leaving it in Sam’s hands while his grace was within the hunter.

He watched Sam slowly get more and more frantic the longer he was gone. When he mentioned that the gods could barely be in the same room for an hour without coming to blows Gabriel snorted in amusement. The kid knew the gods well. When Sam started desperately researching the gods and summoning spells Gabriel groaned and couldn’t help saying, “Oh come on Sam. Even you’re not that stupid.”

Turned out he wasn’t the only one thinking that way as Gabriel saw Dean talk him down from the ledge as Sam started getting irritable with his brother and snapping at him constantly. He could see Dean trying to reign in his temper and was impressed that he was able to. Once Gabriel appeared though he pretty much tuned the rest of it out until the scene changed again and he found himself back in the meadow that Sam had met his other self in and saw the hunter leaning against the tree. He sighed in relief. He had finally made it. He was intensely glad that time worked differently within the mind as it did in the real world. He felt like he had been here for years. 

“Sam! Finally!” he said rushing over to the hunter. 

“Gabriel? What?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Ok what’s the last thing you remember from the real world?” Gabriel asked hoping he wouldn’t have to explain his possession of the hunter. 

“You were hurt and you possessed me so that you could heal faster,” Sam said confused.

“Ok good so you’re pretty much caught up. Turns out there’s a bit of a complication getting back to my own body,” Gabriel said. “Seems that the little piece of my grace that’s still in you is responding to your subconscious and holding me here.”

“What? But…I don’t…” Sam took a deep breath and focused his mind. “I’m sorry Gabriel. I didn’t mean to trap you. How do I make it let go? Just think it?”

Gabriel gave a humorless chuckle. “If only it were that simple. The subconscious is a little more complicated than that. Basically you have to figure out why it’s holding on then find a way to move past it so that it will let go,” he explained tiredly. 

Sam snorted derisively. “Well the why is the easy part,” he muttered.

“Ok I’ll bite,” Gabriel said when it was obvious the hunter wasn’t going to continue. “Why?”

Sam really didn’t want to have to explain this, but he knew it was necessary. “Because if I let go then you’ll leave and I won’t see you again for months until you decide you want another ‘roll in the hay’”

“You really want a relationship by holding me hostage?” Gabriel asked incredulously.

“When have I ever asked you for a relationship Gabriel?” Sam asked heatedly. “I would take just popping in every so often to say ‘hi. How’s it going?’”

“So what? You want to be friends?” Gabriel asked dubiously. 

“Yeah. Exactly. I don’t care that you don’t want a relationship, Gabriel. I mean if that ever changes I’ll be happy, but I’ll never push you for one. I just want to be more than a fuck toy to you.”

Gabriel was taken aback for a moment. If it got him out of here and back to his own body, he would gladly agree to be friends with the hunter. “And if I’m okay with that you think your subconscious will let me go?”

“Probably,” Sam said with a shrug. “Are you okay with that?” he asked hopefully. 

“I can be,” Gabriel said with his own shrug.

“Yeah that’s convincing,” Sam scoffed. 

Gabriel realized that convincing this Sam didn’t matter. He would have to convince his subconscious that he was sincere so he looked the hunter in the eye and said genuinely, “Sammy I will happily be your friend. I’ll come around more often for more than just sex. I promise.”

Sam smiled brightly at him. He knew that the archangel didn’t make promises that he didn’t intend to keep. Gabriel smiled too and pressed a gentle chaste kiss to the hunters lips and said softly, “Now let me go Sammy.”


	16. Chapter 16

Dean was awoken by a bright light filling the room. He covered his eyes and the heard twin gasps so he uncovered them and blinked the spots away and saw both Sam and Gabriel sitting up in bed next to him. He glanced at the clock. Five thirty in the morning. That had sure taken a long time. “I assume everyone is back in the correct bodies?” he asked gruffly. 

“You assume correctly Deano,” Gabriel said smugly. 

“Good,” he said as he fell back to sleep. 

Gabriel snapped his fingers to make sure that they didn’t wake him and turned to Sam. “So Samsquatch. I know I promised to come around more often for more than sex but well…it’s kinda been a while and then I’ve been cooped up in this room for days…” he said apologetically. 

Sam laughed at the archangel’s nervousness. He got it. Gabriel wanted to get out of here for a while and he was horny too and didn’t want Sam to think he was breaking his promise when he got some and bailed. “I get it Gabe. You’re good.”

“Well you could always get a little pissed about it if you wanted to,” Gabriel said raising an eyebrow suggestively. 

“What do you…oh,” Sam figured out what Gabriel wanted and levelled a smirk at the archangel. “Dean’ out?”

“Like a light,” Gabriel said smugly and Sam immediately attacked his lips in a bruising kiss shifting Gabriel underneath him. He tangled a hand in Gabriel’s hair and snatched his head to the side sinking his teeth into the archangel’s neck. Gabriel gasped in pleasure and bucked his hips up where his already straining erection rubbed against Sam’s. 

Sam leaned back enough to rip Gabriel’s shirt open popping all the buttons and then removed his own shirt as he leaned back down leaving sharp bites and licks over Gabriel’s chest, while Gabriel’s nails dug into his back as he keened beneath the hunter. Sam undid Gabriel’s pants while running his teeth roughly along the archangel’s stomach and yanked them off in one smooth move before removing his just as quickly. 

He leaned forward and pressed one more hard kiss to Gabriel’s lips giving a harsh bite to his lower lip before pulling back and flipping him over. Gabriel immediately got his knees beneath him and Sam lined himself up and plunged in as Gabriel cried out in both pain and pleasure. Sam leaned forward and held Gabriel’s hand together above the archangel’s head with one hand while the other hand wrapped in his hair and he pulled sharply as he pounded into the moaning archangel, hitting his prostate with each thrust. 

“Fuck Sammy…so hot…” Gabriel panted as Sam lowered his head and bit down on Gabriel’s shoulder. He kept a furious pace but didn’t touch Gabriel’s cock at all. 

When Sam felt his own release nearing he moved his mouth to Gabriel’s ear and said in almost a growl, “Cum Gabriel,” and bit his earlobe roughly.

“Fuck Sam…” Gabriel cried as he spilled over pulling Sam with him. They collapsed on the bed trying to catch their breath. “Shit Sammy. That was fucking amazing,” Gabriel said once he was able to speak again and he rolled over enough to kiss the hunter and said, “See you soon kiddo,” and he disappeared. 

Gabriel reappeared at the top of Mt Everest and just enjoyed the open air for a moment before he snapped up a pair of skis and took off down the mountain. By the time he reached the bottom he felt much better and snapped himself over to a meadow where he could just lay out in the open and watch the sky. 

As he lay there his mind wandered to what he had seen in Sam’s mind. Particularly the conversation between Sam and the other him in a meadow much like this one. Were they really the same? ‘I love you Sammy and so will he if you are patient and give him a chance,’ echoed in his head. He didn’t want to love the idiotic hunter though, but if they were the same then neither had the other Gabriel either, but he could see how happy he was. He knew that he had never been so happy. Not even in heaven before everything went to the dogs. Would it really be worth it? ‘Something worth dying for’ the other Gabriel had said. 

He had spent thousands of years trying to survive and now he was supposed to find something worth dying for? What was the point? He tried to forget about it but he couldn’t get the vision of happiness out of his head. If a few stolen moments in a dream could mean that much to the other him how much more would forever mean? Or would it all go bad after a while and he would lose everything…if he survived that long. 

He still hadn’t come to a conclusion by the next time he met up with the Winchesters. 

 

It was less than a week later when Sam and Dean were sitting at a bar scoping out marks to hustle when they heard a voice behind them, “Heya Buckos. Got room for another?”

“Gabriel!” Sam said in surprise, sliding over to make room for the archangel with a grin on his face. 

Gabriel ordered a beer and opened a tab for the three of them handing the waitress a gold credit card. When they looked at him appreciatively he just said, “Consider it payback for the pie.”

Sam had known that once Dean got a chance to actually hang out with Gabriel that they would get along wonderfully. Even when they were hunting him Dean had enjoyed his sense of humor. He was proven right as Gabriel regaled them with stories of his best (non-lethal) pranks and they told stories about their own, obviously less impressive, prank wars. Gabriel still seemed to get a kick out of the stories though even if they were nothing compared to what he could snap up. He especially enjoyed the one about the Nair in Sam’s shampoo. He ruffled Sam’s long hair and said mockingly, “Aww poor little Sammy was bald.”

It was about an hour later before Sam remembered why they were actually there. “Weren’t we going to try to make some money tonight?” 

“Ooh do tell. What’s the plan Samsquatch?” Gabriel asked excitedly. 

“Hustling pool,” Dean replied. 

“Sounds like fun. Let’s go,” Gabriel said hopping up from the booth. 

“Umm Gabe. It kinda requires a bit of subtlety,” Sam said warily.

“Hey. I can be subtle!” Gabriel said indignantly. 

“Yeah like a train wreck,” Sam shot back with a grin. 

“Just watch and learn Sam-a-lam,” Gabriel said with a grin strutting in fake drunkenness towards the pool table. Sam and Dean raised an eyebrow at each other and just shrugged and followed. Might as well see how things go. 

It turned out they went very well. Gabriel was surprisingly capable of subtlety so long as it brought an amusing result. Of course the fact that they won two thousand dollars off their marks still had a fight nearly break out, but the archangel just knocked both the guys out and they walked out laughing. “T’was fun Gents. Check you later,” Gabriel said patting them both on the back. 

Sam looked at Dean and broke into helpless laughter and Dean looked at Sam like he was crazy, but as soon as he caught sight of his brother he started laughing too. Sam stopped laughing and just groaned. “He got me too didn’t he?” he asked.

“Too?” Dean said as it dawned on him that both of them must have green hair. “I’m gonna kill that little pixie!” he yelled. Sam just started laughing again as he shook his head. It could have been a lot worse. “You know what this means Sammy?” Dean asked smirking.

“Oh no. Please don’t,” Sam said practically whimpering.

“It’s on now. We gotta think of something to get him back,” Dean said.

Sam just put his head in his hands helplessly. That’s exactly what he was afraid of.


	17. Chapter 17

Sam soon realized that he was going to have to be a part of this prank war if for no other reason than to keep his brother from going too far. When their hair went back to normal after about two hours Sam had more leverage to convince his brother to keep it tame. 

The next weekend Gabriel met up with them again and they got ready. A couple hours in Dean told the funniest story he could think of and when Gabriel leaned forward laughing, Sam dumped the jar of fire ants down the back of the angel’s pants. Gabriel leaned back and raised an eyebrow at the hunters with a smirk as he snapped his fingers and the ants were transferred to their own pants. He was nice enough to change them to piss ants during the switch though. He wasn’t cruel after all. Well not to them anyway. 

When the hunters started squirming in their seats Gabriel leaned towards Sam and ran a finger down his cheek, glancing between him and Dean on the other side of Sam. “Now boys. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with fire?” he drawled sweetly. “Or fire ants?” he said as he disappeared with a wink. 

It was a few days later that the boys arrived into another town for a new case. It took Sam less than a day to figure out that they were hunting Kali and he threw himself into it with a vengeance. He had looked up what killed Kali long ago, after she had tried to kill Gabriel at the Elysian Fields. It was just a matter of getting their hands on it. She was a goddess of destruction whose main aspect was fire so a stake made of willow, a tree of water, dipped in placental blood of any species, blood of creation would kill her. Sam figured it would be far easier to get the blood at an animal hospital than snooping around a maternity ward and the willow stake was easy. It took them two days to wait for an animal to give birth after Sam impersonated an intern at the animal hospital, but then they had everything they needed. 

Sam also knew how to summon her from his research when Gabriel was missing so the plan was to summon her and stab her before she could orient herself. They were each carrying a stake in case the other missed. After she was summoned however, she recovered much quicker than they expected and threw out a hand towards each of them and they were held against the wall with ropes of fire around their wrists and ankles. “What have we here?” She said cruelly. “A couple hunters. And Winchesters at that. What’s wrong? All upset that I killed your little guardian angel?”

Both hunters were in agony from the fire burning into their skin, but before either of them could reply Gabriel was standing there furious and snapped his fingers releasing them without taking his eyes off Kali. He would heal them later once this was handled. He recognized the summoning and figured that they deserved to deal with the pain for a little while after doing something so stupid. 

“You’re supposed to be dead,” Kali spat. 

“You know I was going to leave you alone. Let you all think that I was dead. But then you had to go and mess with what’s mine and I just can’t have that,” Gabriel said beyond angry both at her and at the hunters.

Dean raised an eyebrow at his little brother at the ‘what’s mine’ comment, but Sam shook his head. He knew logically that without him being weakened or taken by surprise Gabriel was more than a match for Kali in a fight, but all he could see was the scene in Elysian Fields where Kali killed him, and he imagined something similar had happened last month when they nearly killed him and he was panicked. 

When Kali threw a stream of fire at Gabriel, Sam pulled Dean around the corner. He knew this trick and had no intention of getting hit with the ricochet. Once the fire had dissipated, Gabriel just threw out a hand and had her pinned against the wall a few feet off the floor. “Normally I would just let you go with a warning, but I can’t have you running back to the others with the news that I survived your ambush,” he said nastily, and then he sneered and said sarcastically, “I’m sorry,” remembering that she had said that both times she tried to kill him and he snapped his fingers and she disintegrated. 

“Gabriel,” Sam said relieved as he walked towards the archangel before Gabriel turned to him and he could see the anger in Gabriel’s eyes.

“And what the hell did you think you two were doing!? Do you have any idea how completely idiotic that was to summon her!? Are you trying to get yourselves killed? Is that it?” he roared. 

Dean was the one to speak. “She was killing people and it’s our job,” he rationalized. 

“It’s your job to kill monsters not seek out vendettas with gods that destroy you with a single thought! You’re just damn lucky that Kali likes to play with her food or you’d both be dead already!” Gabriel reached out and slammed a hand into each of their chests and they both doubled over in pain. “You’re warded against gods and angels now and if you decide to go messing with another god I might just let you idiots die!” he finished at an even louder volume before he disappeared. He had to get out of there before he said or did something he would regret later.

Sam recognized the feeling of their ribs being warded but it had hurt much worse than last time. Probably because Gabriel was too pissed to be gentle with it. He did notice that the archangel had healed their burns while he was doing it though so he was glad of that at least. Sam sighed. He saw now how stupidly reckless they had been. He should have at least talked to Gabriel before rushing in without much of a plan. Maybe the archangel would have known of some spell or wards that could have bound her powers temporarily. 

Almost as soon as Gabriel left Sam heard a booming thunderclap followed by a torrent of rain and the crack of lightning striking. Oh yeah. Gabriel was really pissed. “This biblical storm your boyfriend’s doing?” Dean asked petulantly. 

“Probably. Yeah.” Sam said sheepishly, not even bothering to correct Dean on the boyfriend part. It wasn’t really important right now. It took them an hour to make it the ten miles back to the hotel because of the torrents of rain coming down and by the time they got from the parking lot into the room they were both drenched to the bone and they took turns in the probably now pointless shower before making an early night of it. Neither were up for talking and their ribs hurt like a bitch. 

The storm was still going strong the next morning, but it had tapered off a bit to be a normal thunderstorm rather than a monsoon at least. And just in time too if the water bubbling up from the grates in the parking lot was any indication.


	18. Chapter 18

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out in early afternoon. Sam and Dean had foregone dinner last night and breakfast this morning. They weren’t about to tempt that weather any more than they had to when it was them Gabriel was pissed at. So when the skies cleared the immediately went for the diner down the street. All anyone could talk about was the freak storm that came out of nowhere. 

After gorging themselves Dean headed out to the bar while Sam went back to the motel. He wasn’t really in the mood for fun. As soon as he walked in the door Gabriel appeared leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Sam had been worried he would never see the archangel again so he wasted no time getting out what he needed to say. “I’m sorry Gabriel. You were right. It was stupid and reckless and we should have at the very least talked to you before going in half-cocked like idiots. It won’t happen again,” he rushed out almost in one breath. 

Most of the fire that was left in the archangel’s eyes died out with that sincere, if rushed apology, so Gabriel just said, “Damn right it won’t happen again Winchester. I meant what I said about leaving you to die next time.” Even if he was going to give things a shot with the younger hunter, he certainly wasn’t about to blindly follow to his death because of the kid’s own stupidity. 

Sam just nodded. “Good. You should. I don’t think I could watch you get hurt or die for me again,” he said softly. 

Gabriel pushed himself off the wall and pulled the hunter into a searing kiss spinning him so that he was against the wall instead. He moved his mouth to the hunter’s neck snatching his head to the side by his hair and bit harshly into his neck. Sam whimpered in both pain and pleasure and Gabriel snapped his fingers and they were both naked. 

He yanked Sam to his knees in front of him and Sam eagerly wrapped his mouth around the archangel’s aching cock. Gabriel used the hand in Sam’s hair to hold him still as he fucked the hunter’s mouth getting approving hums and moans from Sam making it just that much better. After a few minutes he pulled Sam’s head back quickly before he finished this too soon. He took a second to catch his breath and rein himself in before he shifted the hunter and moved behind him lining his now lubed cock against Sam’s entrance, but making no move to go further. 

“God Gabriel…Fuck me…please,” Sam said trying to grind himself back on the large member teasing him. 

“Tell me you won’t do anything so stupid again,” Gabriel said forcefully. 

“I won’t…won’t do it again…I swear…please Gabe…in me…fuck me…please…”

Gabriel rammed himself in with one quick thrust before pulling all the way out and doing so again. Sam threw his hips back with each thrust trying to get Gabriel deeper and harder and the archangel complied as he began slamming himself in and out of the hunter. “You’re mine Sam Winchester and you do not get to get yourself killed,” he growled as he pounded harder and faster and when he came, so did Sam, completely untouched. Gabriel pulled out slowly and leaned down and left one last bite where Sam’s shoulder met his neck before he disappeared. 

Sam picked himself up off the floor and collapsed in his bed. He kept running over what Gabriel had said about being his, and he smiled. Gabriel’s anger and roughness, combined with his words betrayed his worry over Sam and that was definitely progress so at least something good had come out of this mess. Other than good sex of course. Because that was always good. 

Once he was a little more collected and had gotten rid of that boneless feeling he got up and took a shower before pulling out a book and relaxed the rest of the evening. When Dean stumbled in around midnight he looked at his brother and said, “I guess Gabriel was here then?”

Sam raised an eyebrow, “What makes you say that?” Dean gestured to his neck and Sam’s fingers came up to his own neck and he winced. Yep that was definitely going to bruise. “Yeah he was here,” Sam admitted with a shrug. 

“So how long has this been going on?” Dean asked curiously. He didn’t want any details, but he liked knowing what was going on with his brother.

“Every once in a while since the warehouse,” Sam said and Dean just nodded. So it wasn’t a serious thing. That was all Dean really needed to know. 

 

It was a few days later that Gabriel popped in on them while they were out for dinner. He managed to arrive just before they ordered and he, of course, slid in next to Sam. Their waitress looked at him a little funny when he just ordered the largest slice of chocolate cake they had and a large chocolate milkshake with extra whipped cream. Sam rolled his eyes and ordered a normal meal as did Dean. They chatted amicably while waiting for their food, but when Gabriel’s hand moved to rest on his knee Sam jumped a bit and turned to look at Gabriel who gave him a sly wink. 

Thankfully Gabriel had waited until Dean’s attention was elsewhere, the pies on the counter to be specific, so his brother hadn’t noticed anything off. Sam smiled and did his best to act like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like it wasn’t the first time the angel had touched him outside of sex. Because Sam knew that if he drew attention to it then it would end. A moment later Gabriel’s thumb began absently rubbing against the side of Sam’s knee. Sam didn’t even think that Gabriel noticed. 

His hand was removed once the food arrived so that he could use both hands to eat, but the hope that Sam felt lingered. Once they were finished eating Gabriel said, “Now for the reason I came before I got distracted by chocolate. I’m gonna steal Samsquatch away for a few hours,” he said to Dean before turning to Sam. “I wanna show you something.”

Sam nodded and followed Gabriel out the door before they disappeared, and reappeared in a meadow, exactly like the one where Sam had met with the other Gabriel in his mind. Sam really should know what all Gabriel had seen in his mind, and this seemed like a good way to start that conversation. “Gabriel?” Sam asked uncomfortably. 

“Well you remember when I had to find you in your mind?” Sam nodded slowly hoping this wasn’t going where he thought it was. “Well I had to find you first, and you were hiding behind all your memories of me, so…” Gabriel shrugged sheepishly. 

“So you saw all my memories of you? From both timelines?” Sam asked trying to get a handle on just how embarrassed he should be.

“Yeah. And a few other things while I was trying to find where your memories of me were tucked away,” Gabriel explained.

Sam groaned. “What other things?”

“Something about clowns, a couple memories of your father being an asshole, a little bit about Castiel, and a couple of you with your college girlfriend…nothing explicit I promise!” he clarified seeing the storm cloud brewing on Sam’s face. “Just a couple conversations and the start of your first date.”

Sam took a deep breath. That didn’t sound so bad. And of the memories of Gabriel the only one he wouldn’t have wanted him to see was the one that took place in this meadow…well in his head anyway, so it could have been a lot worse, and it wasn’t like Gabriel had much choice. “Okay. So why are we here?”

It was Gabriel’s turn to take a deep breath. This was the point of no return and he was terrified, but if there was one thing that he learned from his other self, it was that sometimes you had to stop running. He was tired of being a coward so he steeled himself and lifted a hand to tuck a lock of Sam’s hair behind his ear resting his hand on Sam’s cheek and said softly, “Because the other me was right.”

Sam sucked in a breath and grinned at the archangel. “You mean…” He had a good idea of what Gabriel meant, but he really wanted to hear the words. 

Gabriel closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath before opening again and looking into Sam’s, “I mean that I love you Samshine,” he said with a nervous smile using the same nickname the other Gabriel had used. He liked the sound of it. 

Sam pressed his lips softly against Gabriel’s pulling him tightly against him. “I love you too Gabriel. Always.”

Gabriel smiled brightly at the hunter and slid his hand to the back of Sam’s neck pulling him in for a slow loving kiss. Sam sat down, back against the tree and pulled Gabriel down with him. They unconsciously settled into the same position that he had been in with the other Gabriel in this same place as Gabriel buried his face in Sam’s neck pressing gentle kisses to the soft skin and Sam’s head rested against Gabriel’s shoulder. “He was wrong about one thing though,” Gabriel whispered. 

“What’s that?” Sam whispered back. 

“You’re not worth dying for. Dying is easy. It’s an ending. You’re worth living for,” Gabriel said, barely audible and had it not been for the fact that his face was so close to Sam’s ear he may not have heard it. Sam’s only response was to hold Gabriel tighter as tears welled up in his eyes. 

Neither of them spoke for a while, they just sat there holding and caressing each other punctuated with soft gentle kisses. Gabriel had so envied the easy comfortable happiness that Sam and the other Gabriel had, but now he realized that they had had it too. He just had to accept it and let it happen. 

Sam was the one who broke the silence nearly an hour later when a thought came to him. “If he comes to see me again…” he trailed off unsure how to ask the question. 

Gabriel pulled back to look at Sam. “You’re not betraying me by loving him.”


End file.
